Legend Of The Strongest Delinquent
by streetlife34
Summary: The City of Koryuu is full of Thugs and Delinquents to many to even count them all, whether they act by themselves or with gangs. But among them there's one certain Delinquent who isn't apart of any gang and always fights alone, yet is hated or feared by other thugs. He is Shirou Tsukiharu and he has one goal to be the Strongest and use his fists to beat down anyone along the way
1. The Start Of A Legend

**Legend Of The Strongest Delinquent**

**Hey everyone and get ready for the start of my new fanfic. This is a story following the plot of the ****History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi series, with my OC filling the role of the protagonist. Kenichi will still be an important character in this story, but he'll mainly play second banana to the OC MC, why because Kenichi always felt so out of place.**

**Think about it, the story is about a bunch of Martial Artists and fighters who mainly start out as Delinquents but all have great talent in the art and progress to become truly gifted fighters, but the main character is a meek cowardly student who's bullied and can't fight and has no talent at all, yet his power comes hard work and training. That sounds nice, but the character himself is just so lacking.**

**He has hardly any qualities that a good main character needs, throughout the entire story no matter how strong he gets, he's still a coward who's afraid even ordinary grunts and won't even admit it. He's constantly being outshined by his friends and rivals and he's just so whiny that it gets on my nerves. Plus his only real motive for strength is to protect some girl he just met, who is fully capable of protecting herself and treats him like a child.**

**So yeah, that's why I decided to shift the focus of this story to a more fitting main character in my opinion. **

**Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fan-based parody, History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi is owned by Funimation and Syun Matsuena, Please support the official release.**

* * *

"Shirou" Regular speech.

_"Shirou"_ Thoughts.

**_SEIKUKEN_** Attack names.

_(Shirou)_ Words said previously.

[Shirou] Words said in unison.

* * *

**The Start Of A Legend**

* * *

**Play OST - A Certain Scientific Railgun - Ketsui to Kakugo**

In a small part of Eastern Japan was a large city called Koryuu City. It had basically everything you'd expect from any city, large buildings, suburban neighborhoods, shopping districts, High Schools. But unlike other cities or towns, it had one thing that the city was known for; Crime. This area was filled with lawbreakers, surprisingly enough though, 80% of those who caused trouble were students.

The city had an overdose of delinquents, punks, and street gangs. That plus the fact that police influence was unbelievably low made this city a place where fighting, discord and brawls were an everyday occurrence. Which brings us to the start of this tale.

In the middle of a quiet part of town, inside a dark alley was the sight of a brawl. Right now there were four rough-looking guys who were all already bruised and beaten up brutally. One was knocked out and leaning by the wall, with an arm that was bent. Another one laying on the ground with a bloody forehead. A third one was conscious but in a lot of pain and was flat on his back. And the last one was just knocked to the wall and fell down, leaning against the wall, he had blood coming from nose, lip and a missing tooth.

Walking up the one that was just knocked to the wall was the person responsible for beating all these thugs. Compared to the four of them who all looked like they were eighteen at least, the one who beat them looked younger than all of them.

The young man in question was sixteen years of age, Possessing bright-Sliver hair that went down to his neck and eyes that were a deep shade of blue. He was in great shape for his age, his body was built strong though not bulky like a bodybuilder, it was lean and yet very well defined, there wasn't a single visible sign of fat anywhere on him. He was wearing a black T-shirt that had long white sleeves starting from his elbows, along with light-grey long-pants that had two small leather belts tied around each of the cuffs, and black dress shoes. This young man was Shirou Tsukiharu.

Shirou walked up to the thug he just hit, who was breathing heavily.

"…We were out of line, we're sorry man…" The thug said quietly, hoping to appease Shirou. "…We get the message, you don't need to—"

He was interrupted when Shirou kicked him in the gut and kept digging in his heel, causing him to cough up in pain.

"Oh come on, you were the ones who started it in the first place." Shirou said, uncaring. "You don't really think you're going to get off with an apology do you?"

Shirou then stopped and pulled back his leg, at that point the thug was unconscious. This only made Shirou feel bored.

"Pathetic, I thought you third-strings would at least be good for a morning exercise but I'm barely awake." Shirou then took out his phone and checked the time. This made him sigh. "Yeah, I guess it is about that time."

Having said that Shirou started to walk away and heading for the end of the alley, intending to leave.

"Lucky you, you all get to live for another day." Shirou said to them as he left.

**Music Off**

* * *

Shirou was currently walking down a suburban street that was in the direction of the High School that he attended. While walking, Shirou happened to pass by some other students that unlike him were wearing their uniforms, whenever they saw him they would always try to avoid eye-contact or walk faster to keep their distance. Though Shirou didn't seem to react all that much.

"Hey! Shirou!" A voiced called out.

Shirou turned around the see someone coming up behind him. It was another student though he didn't seem afraid of him. This person was his friend Kenichi Shirahama. Kenichi is a young man of average height with medium length spiky brown hair in the back and some hanging in the front on the sides and brown eyes. He is also wearing his school uniform which is consists of a long-sleeved blue blazer, a white buttoned-up dress-shirt, matching blue pants and sports shoes. He also had a small band-aid beneath his right eye and Yin Yang badge on his collar. Physically, Kenichi has a thin and somewhat scrawny and frail physique. The exact opposite of Shirou.

"Kenichi, why the rush?" Shirou asked, somewhat bored. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes, there's a problem!" Kenichi said, frantic as he stopped in front of him. "I'm late! I studied too hard last night and now I over-slept again!"

"Is that all?" Shirou asked, uncaring.

"What do you mean is that all!? And why aren't you wearing your uniform?" Kenichi demanded, pointing his finger at him.

Shirou shrugged. "You know I never wear that stupid thing, besides it's not like there's a rule that says we have to."

"But it's our obligation as students, especially First-years to abide by the school's morals and that includes following the dress code." Kenichi argued like he was reciting a quota.

"Well too bad but, I'm not a morally correct student." Shirou brushed off and kept walking.

"If you keep acting this why people will start thinking you're a delinquent." Kenichi warned him, walking beside him.

"I am a delinquent." Shirou replied unconcerned. "A punk-ass delinquent."

"And I really wish you'd stop saying that!" Kenichi said, once again frantic.

Despite these two being mirror opposites of each other, they were actually very close friends. They first meet when they were kids, though at some point they were separated after Kenichi had to move. A few years later they were reunited just before the start of High School. They had become High School students about a month ago and in that time Kenichi always tried to stay out of trouble while Shirou welcomed it.

As they were walking, Kenichi not looking where he was going and was about to bump into a female student that was in front of him.

"Anyway, we need to—!" Kenichi's words were cut off when grabbed his wrist and tossed him over her shoulder. "Waaaa!?—" He screamed out thinking he was going to hit the ground head first. And he would have if Shirou, who reacted in time rushed in and grabbed Kenichi by the back of his arm, stopping his fall. He then let go, making Kenichi hit the ground gently this time.

Shirou followed by trying to throw a punch at the girl, though she dodged by leaning back. The girl then countered by trying to hit him in the chin with a high-kick, but Shirou saw it coming and parried it with his own kick. They collided and the girl jumped back to gain some distance.

Kenichi breathed a sigh of relief on the fact that he wasn't hurt, though the books in his bag spilt out. Shirou, however, turned his attention to the girl.

"Hey!" Shirou yelled. "What the hell's your problem?!" He glared at her. The girl immediately looked at Shirou with a worried and somewhat fearful expression.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry!" She apologized intensely. "I'm sorry I threw him like that, it was just a reflex!" She quickly added.

[Huh?] They both looked confused.

"Is that normal?" Kenichi asked Shirou, whispering.

"How the Hell should I know?" Shirou replied, not whispering.

Now getting a good look at her, they see she is a young teenage girl of average height. She has fair skin with a beauty-mark under her left eye, bright blue eyes, she also had glasses and long straight blond hair that was tied in a few braids. While she can easily be considered very pretty and attractive, her most noticeable physical trait is her slender yet surprisingly developed and curvaceous-frame for a teenage girl, especially her massive, jiggly breasts. She also sports thick thighs with rather round, fat, juicy buttocks, and a lean yet well-defined build.

But right now Kenichi wasn't focusing on that, instead he was more concerned about the fact that all the books in his backpack pilled out and were on the ground.

"Whoa!" My books!" Kenichi shrieked, frantically picking them up.

"I'm really sorry. Here let me help you." The girl kneeled down and helped him put them up.

While picking up the books the girl noticed the small badge Kenichi was wearing.

"Huh? That badge." The girl muttered.

Kenichi heard her. "Oh, you mean this?" He pointed to his badge.

She nodded. "Yeah, that's a Yin-Yang badge isn't it, do remember where you got it?"

Kenichi thought about it, trying to remember. "Hmm, honestly no, I had it for as long as I can remember. Actually Shirou has one too." He then looked towards Shirou. "That reminds me, where's your badge."

Shirou rolled his eyes. "It's at home Kenichi, I don't wear it every second of the day like you."

Kenichi scratched his head as if he forgot something and looked at his wristwatch, then suddenly he shot up and had a panicked expression. "OH NO! It's already this late! He screamed before running off while running he turned back and called out. "I'm going on ahead! You two better hurry or you'll be late too!"

And with that, he kept running off into the distance. Leaving behind Shirou who was still standing there and the girl who was sitting on the ground.

Shirou sighed. "Does that guy have to freak out about everything?"

The girl stood up and noticed a book still on the ground. "Oh no, he must have forgotten this one."

"Sounds typical." Shirou held out his hand. "Give it to me, I hand it to him when I see him."

The girl gave him the book. The title of the book said; How To Make Friends: Volume 1. Seeing it made Shirou annoyed. "Are you kidding me, what is with that guy and these stupid How To books? Even an idiot knows they never work."

The girl smiled at him. "By the way you talk, you two must be pretty close."

Shirou shrugged. "We've known each other a while, no big deal."

"Oh I forgot, I never introduced myself. I'm Miu Furinji." The now named Miu introduced herself. "I'm transferring to Koryuu High School today."

"A transfer student huh?" Shirou asked his hands in his pockets. "What year are you?"

"I'm a First Year." Miu answered.

"Same here." Shirou responded.

"Can I ask you something? Do you have experience with Martial Arts?" Miu asked curiously.

"You talking about how I stopped your kick, right?" Shirou deduced. "A full explanation will take a while so ask me again later."

"I guess you're right. We'll be late for class if we don't hurry." Miu decided. "Can we talk after class then?"

"Sure, whatever." Shirou said uncaringly as he turned and started to leave. "Oh, and one more thing, in the future try not to kick so much while wearing a skirt unless you want everyone to see what you've got underneath."

Miu at first seemed confused by his advise until she heard that last part and remember that she high-kicked while wearing a mini-skirt. In other words, every time she kicks she gives whoever is in front of her a view of her panties. Realizing that she became embarrassed, placed her hands on the helm of her skirt and her face blushed brightly.

* * *

Later that day classes were underway at Koryuu High School. The High School was had standard High School building, it was white and had three floors and spilt into three different sections. Outside the school-building was a greenhouse and on one section's of the school building's roof was a swimming pool, another one had a flat tiled floor with a water-tank above the doorway. The classrooms for the First-Year students were on the third floor and that's where Kenichi was, though Shirou was in a different class he was currently ditching.

It was now afternoon and the bell rang, signalling that class was over and the start of lunch-break. Soon all the students exited their classrooms and went around campus to enjoy their break. Kenichi, in particular, was enjoying his time eating his lunch while sitting on a bench near a tree in the courtyard while reading more How-To books. Though before long Shirou approached him.

"Hey!" Shirou made his presence known.

"Shirou, how's it going." Kenichi greeted, pleased to see him.

"Tch the usual, I got called in by some stupid teacher for refusing to wear the damn uniform." Shirou said, clicking his tongue irritated.

Kenichi had a well-meaning smile. "Well, that couldn't be helped. I told you, you should've worn it."

"Well I'm still not going to." Shirou said, not leaving it up for debate. He then reached into his school-bag. "By the way, you dropped this earlier."

Shirou handed Kenichi the book he dropped this morning. Kenichi quickly took it relieved and grateful.

"My book! Thank goodness, I don't want I would've done without this one."

"I still don't get why you even read that crap." Shirou dismissed his attitude. "Those things are just rip-offs that tell you basic stuff anybody could've figured out on their own unless they're some idiot."

"Well excuse me for being an idiot!" Kenichi replied, insulted by his remark. "I just really want this to work, so far I haven't been able to make any new friends in my class if I don't do something it'll be the same as Middle School." He sighed. "I'm just glad I have a strong friend like you so I don't get picked on as much."

"And yet you give them plenty of other reasons to pick on you." Shirou muttered, feeling aloof by his friend's personality.

"Um… Excuse me." A timid voice spoke out from above. This caught both of their attention.

"Eh… Where?" Kenichi kept looking around, trying to find the source of the voice.

Shirou found it immediately. "Above you."

Kenichi then looked up to try and see but the second he did, his face was met with a shoe landing on it and jumping down from the tree to land on the ground beside them was Miu. Who was holding down her skirt. Kenichi fell to the ground after with a bloody nose after his face was used as a landing post. While Shirou just watched.

"We've got to stop meeting like this." Shirou said, casual.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Miu apologized intensely again while bowing her head. "It's just the skirts in this school are really short."

"Ouch!" Kenichi moaned in pain while getting up. "Why do I keep getting hurt today?"

"I'm such a klutz." Miu knocked herself in the head, with an upset sigh. "At the last school, the same thing happened… I don't know why. I don't know why but I can never act the same as the other students."

_"I can think of a few reasons why."_ Shirou thought.

_"Shouldn't it be obvious?"_ Kenichi thought.

Miu then looked at them nervously. "Can I… Be friends with you two?"

Shirou just shrugged, unfazed. "Whatever, knock yourself out."

Kenichi however just blushed brightly and looked completely flushed after hearing her request.

_"If I take a closer look, this girl… Is actually really cute!"_ Kenichi thought excited.

"And what about you?" Miu asked, waiting to hear Kenichi's answer.

Kenichi then turned around and rested his arm by the tree. "Erm well… You can be my friend." He answered, trying to sound cool but still had a huge blush. "I have a big heart anyway."

"Really~!" Miu responded, really happy by his answer.

Shirou chopped Kenichi on the head annoyed. "Quit pretending your cool, it doesn't even look real."

"Was it really necessary to hit me!" Kenichi asked frantically while messaging his head.

"We both know it was." Shirou answered, uncaring.

"Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet." Miu remembered, interrupting them. "Shirou knows this but, I'm Miu Furinji. Just call me Miu."

They all at down on the bench. "I'm Kenichi Shirahama, you can just call me Kenichi." He introduced himself.

"Sure, Kenichi." Miu complied.

Kenichi was enjoying the situation greatly until he picked up something Miu said and look surprised. "Wait a minute, how does Shirou already know your name?"

Miu smiled innocently. "Because we already introduced ourselves when we meet this morning, in fact we made plans to meet after class which is why I'm here."

"EEEHHH!" Kenichi cried out with comical tears running down his face while gripping Shirou's collar. "Why? Why do you always get the best end of everything?! I thought this was my chance?!"

Shirou just pried Kenichi off of him, ignoring Kenichi's outburst and stated. "And you wonder why people pick on you."

Miu gave a well-meaning smile at them and spoke. "Well… I've got a lot of things I wanted to ask you. Does this school have a Gymnastics club?"

"Sure, we've got plenty of clubs." Shirou stated crossing his arms behind his head. "Including ones we don't need."

"Now that I remember, didn't this school's Gymnastics club win at nations once." Kenichi brought up.

"Really, that's great!" Miu said excitedly.

"Do you like Gymnastics?" Kenichi asked, hoping to keep the conversation going.

"Yeah, a little. I've always wanted to learn a sport that was more feminine…" Miu explained before she asked. "What about you Kenichi? What club are you a part of?"

Kenichi smiled and answered. "The Karate club." He then looked a little embarrassed. "I know it doesn't really suit me, but I just picked it because I didn't want to get picked on."

"In that case, you should quit the Karate club." Shirou advised, surprising them.

"Huh, why would I do that?" Kenichi asked confused.

"You really don't get how things work around here do you?" Shirou asked rhetorically before he continued. "Tell me, what do you know about the gang Ragnarok?"

"Haa! Ragnarok!" Kenichi seemed spooked by the name.

"Ragnarok?" Miu said, not understand the problem. "What's that?"

"Guess I should start from the beginning." Shirou began. "As you know, this town is crawling with delinquents and gangs, the biggest of them all is the gang known as Ragnarok. They're made entirely of High School students and are feared for crushing every other gang that crosses them. Among them are students from this school."

"I get that, but what does that have to do with the Karate club?" Kenichi asked, not getting the problem.

"A lot actually, the students of this school that are members of Ragnarok practically run the place, even some teachers fear them and other delinquents at this school know not to act up out of fear of Ragnarok." Shirou explained. "As for the Ragnarok members, they spend their time by joining clubs to spread their influence, for example, taking over a club to make all the members their grunts. The Karate club is an example of that."

"Wait, the Captain of the Karate club is a Third-year named Tsukuba who's crazy strong." Kenichi noted, now afraid. "Not only is he huge but he's scary enough that everyone follows every order he gives in a second, He's terrifying!" He described. "Are saying he's from Ragnarok?!"

"No doubt." Shirou confirmed. "That's why you should just quit. With a guy like him running the place, the members are more concerned with learning how to beat people up than teaching new members any actually Karate. You'll just waste your time there."

Kenichi then held his head down looking upset and distraught. "I guess you're right, I just really wanted to learn self-defence."

"That reminds me." Miu spoke up, looking at Shirou. "You still haven't answered my question. Shirou, have you studied Martial Arts before?"

"Oh, that." Shirou remembered as he scratched his hair a bit. "I learned from my Dad for a while, though in my last year of Middle School I started brawling."

"Wait really?" Kenichi asked, not being aware of that fact. "I didn't know you did Martial Arts."

"I started shortly after you moved away." Shirou explained. "Though the Old Man's overseas right now."

"What kind of discipline did your father teach you?" Miu asked, now curious. "Judo, Karate, Tae-Kwon-Do?" She guessed.

Shirou shook his head. "Nah, It was MMA, Mix Martial Arts. I didn't want to be too limited to one style. I also started brawling for the same reason, I love fighting that's freestyle."

"I really wish you wouldn't do stuff like that though, it's not right to keep causing trouble." Kenichi advised, hoping to persuade him.

"We've had this conversation before, let it go already." Shirou replied, decidedly.

"Hmm, I suppose it's not a problem to enjoy fighting but…" Miu's expression changed, her eyes looked razor-sharp and piercing. "Wouldn't you rather learn, real Martial Arts?"

Kenichi looked surprised and a little confused by her sudden change, while Shirou felt as if she was changing him and smirked. He then stood up. "If you know a place that teaches Martial Arts that are worth my time, I'd be interested in seeing it."

And with that Shirou walked away. Miu smiled as if she could feel his fighting spirit while Kenichi just felt lost and out of place by all this.

* * *

Once School had ended it was now sun-set and all the students were walking home. Though students who had club activities stayed behind a bit longer. Shirou himself was about to walk home until, while he was walking by the courtyard he heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, Shirou-kun~"

Shirou turned to see the person who had called out to him was Haruo Niijima. Niijima has a rather "alienated" appearance. Slightly tall for his age, he has a slim yet solid physique, sharp fingernails and gangly limbs. His facial features are somewhat demonic: a long tongue with a sharp nose, long pointed ears, and teeth that switch between jagged, fanged, or even just normal. Not surprisingly, many other students refer to him as a "Demon-faced space alien" or something similar. He sports a puddle-bowl hair cut and wears the same uniform as Kenichi. He is also a First-year.

Naturally, Shirou didn't look happy to see him. "Niijima, what do you want?"

"Ha, isn't that obvious?" Niijima asked before laughing out. "I want world domination!"

"Oh God." Shirou muttered, wishing he hadn't asked.

"But moving on from that for now." Niijima moved in closer and gave him a chilling smile. "Have you thought about my proposal?"

"You mean your stupid idea of taking over the School?" Shirou guessed, hoping to get more personal space.

"That's right and it's not stupid!" Niijima said loudly, taking out his PDA. "Just think about it, right now Ragnarok rules this school with an Iron Fist, but you're high up on the totem-pole yourself, I got stats on everyone and your stats are among the highest." He explained, typing things down on his screen. "Trust me when I say this; with my brain and your power nothing could stop us, the whole school would kneel at our feet!"

Shirou barely reacted to his declaration and simply replied. "Listen Niijima. I'm not interested in any small-string goals like taking over some stupid High School. Besides our relationship is one of give-and-take. I protect you from bullies and you give me any info I need. It's simple enough so let's keep it that way."

"Hmph, you're no fun." Niijima shrugged still smiling. "But I'll win you over one of these days."

Shirou and Niijima met a short while back. Niijima is the kind of person who even though he is weak, he worms his way out of situations by kissing up to the Strongest person he can find and then hides behind their shadow. In his mind; it's always best to be on the winning side no matter who they are. When he met Shirou he immediately clung to him, though Shirou found him annoying he knew Niijima could be useful. Niijima was good at digging up the dirt and being in the know. Shirou knew there were advantages to having a good source of information so he kept him around. And Niijima traded his info for protection. They both use each other and they are both aware of that, that's how they keep such a stable connection.

"Speaking off which, I want info on the Karate club." Shirou instructed him.

"Sure thing, but first." Niijima leaned in. "In exchange I want you to give me the scope on the new transfer student. Give-and-take remember."

"Fine, her name's Miu Furinji, she blonde and wears glasses, wants to go to the Gymnastics club and like Martial Arts." He listed, while Niijima wrote it all down on his PDA. "Now answer my question." Shirou demanded.

"Let me guess, you want to know about Kenichi quitting the club don't you?" Niijima said, knowing he was right.

"Good I don't have to explain." Shirou replied. "So spill it."

"Hahahaha! It's actually pretty hilarious!" Niijima said through his laughter. "He went to the club and told them he wanted to quit and so the Captain accepted. But, the rule is anyone who leaves the Karate club has to participate in a match first! Hahaha, it's practically a farewell beating!"

"What, since when is that a rule?" Shirou questioned, unaware.

"Since Tsukuba became the Captain of course." Niijima informed him like it was obvious. "What else would you expect from a member of Ragnarok?"

"I should have known." Shirou face-palmed. "Who's his opponent?"

"He's a First-year named Daimonji." Niijima looked him up on his PDA. "According to my student info, Daimonji's battle level is 73. He'll beat up anybody if he doesn't like them. And get this, when he was in Middle School; just because he disliked some people he sent them to the hospital. Because the kids who were beaten up by him were so scared, they transferred schools. And that's how Daimonji managed to get away from punishment." He listed down.

"Tch, just great." Shirou clicked his tongue, he was clearly pissed off. "Instead of Tsukuba they threw some wild attack dog at him, this'll just be a show they can watch to get their sick kicks."

"Ha, you got that right." Niijima continued, finding the whole thing funny. "That dude is one of the Strongest people in the club, old Week-Knees Kenichi will be sent to the hospital when this is over."

"I'm leaving." Shirou said walking away.

"Hey, just remember what we talked about!" Niijima called out loudly while Shirou left. "Just think it over, okay!"

* * *

The sky turned dark and night fell as the moon shined in the night sky. The only bright light were the street-lights and the small bit of the sun that could just barely be seen still setting over the horizon. During this time Kenichi was walking down the street, his shoulders slumped and his face filled with anguish and dismay. He had the aura of someone whose life was over and in this case that was partially true.

Before long Shirou had found him and approached him. "So this is where you were."

"Oh, hi Shirou." Kenichi greeted, his tone was a downcast one.

"I heard what happened at the club, and judging by the look on your face it's true." Shirou noted. "When's the fight?"

"In a week." Kenichi answered, still slumped.

They then stopped walking and started to talk.

"I just don't get it, all the Upper-Classmen in the Karate club are strong, so were all the bullies in Middle-School. They already knew they were strong so why must they pick on others?" Kenichi asked, upset and not understanding it. "What reason could they have?"

"It depends on your definition of strong." Shirou answered, understanding full well. "The way I see it, those bullies and Upper-Classmen are weaklings."

"Weak?" Kenichi repeated, not agreeing. "There's no way they are, you've seen what they can do."

"You're missing the point, it's not what they do, but why they do it." Shirou continued. "No one wants to be weak and anybody would want to be strong. So a solution most people come up with is finding someone weaker than them. They do that to lord there strength over that person, believing that it makes them strong by default, feeling relieved that; at least they're not at the bottom of the food chain, that's usually how they think." He explained, then pointing at Kenichi. "And you're the weakest in town so every bully made you their target."

"Are you kidding me!" Kenichi said in a frustrated outburst. "I have to go through all this just so they can feel better about themselves?! How is that fair? I'm more than just something others need to punch to bloat up their egos!"

"It's not like you did anything to stop this from happening." Shirou reminded him, shutting him up. "Whenever any kind of struggle comes up you always threw in the towel before trying or just ran away, whenever anyone put you down you just let them. You never stood up for yourself and just showed everyone a person who was basically asking to be bullied. How can you complain when you're the one who let this happen?"

Kenichi's frustration deflated like a balloon and he just seemed depressed. "I know, but still. It's not like I wanted to let things turn out this way, it's just whenever these things happen my legs won't stop shaking and by the time my thoughts are in order I've already given up." He admitted, ashamed. "I truly want to be brave, but I just can't."

"Well, that's probably because you have such a low opinion of yourself. And it doesn't help that you're weaker than a Straw-weight." Kenichi felt like an arrow pierced his self-esteem after hearing Shirou say that. "You're going to have to fix those if you ever want to stand up to Daimonji."

Kenichi seemed even more depressed after being reminded of the fight. "That's right I still haven't figured out what I'm going to do about that."

"Well you still have a week, hopefully you'll figure something out," Shirou suggested.

"But what can I do? There's no way I can beat him." Kenichi told himself, pessimistic while looking down. "Daimonji and all the others in the club all say only the strong are permitted to learn Karate and they're all stronger than me."

"Only the strong have I right to learn, huh?" Shirou repeated, skeptical. "That's bullshit, only wild-apes like them would believe that."

"Huh, really?" Kenichi asked, now looking at him. "What makes you say that?"

"Back when I was a kid, my Dad told me something." Shirou said, thinking back. "Everyone in the world started out a weakling. That means in the beginning, we were at the same level, but it's your choice on where you go from there. Learning how to fight is a right everyone has because it makes the weak strong, someone who thinks he started out strong before he even started obviously needs to get their head checked."

"So then, you're saying he's wrong and that weak people have a right to learn Karate too?" Kenichi asked.

"Of course he's wrong." Shirou confirmed as he began to walk. "He only thinks otherwise because his head's full of crap. When some weak idiot gets a small taste of power they let it go to their head, but Daimonji's still just a third-string."

"Maybe to you." Kenichi muttered following him before he started thinking. "But still, does that mean when people get strong they automatically want to fight others?"

Shirou shrugged. "Who can say?"

"Well, I definitely will not become like that!" Kenichi said, with new determination. "If I become strong, I will use it to protect the weak! I will become a Hero, then I will take care of those punks!"

"Is that right?" Shirou asked, clearly not sharing the enthusiasm. "Well then Hero-san, why don't you try taking care of them." He pointed to the right.

Kenichi who seemed confused looked in the direction his friend was pointing at and his nerve immediately shattered by what he saw.

A few feet away from them were some group of rough-looking thugs, three to be exact, one with sunglasses, one with a scar and one with a moustache, who were standing next to a car that was parked by the street. Besides them, there was also a weak looking old man on the ground and what was most surprising was that standing against those thugs was none other than Miu who seemed to be defending the old man.

"What did you say? I dare you to say it again!" The thug with a scar threatened Miu.

"Hurry up and apologize to the old man." Miu responded, unafraid.

It looked like a fight was going to break out soon. But while Shirou seemed interested, Kenichi quickly backed away and hid behind the street corner.

_"I didn't see a thing, didn't see a thing…"_ Kenichi inwardly babbled to himself, while breaking out in a cold sweat.

"Not much of a Hero are you?" Shirou commented.

"I'm not strong yet!" Kenichi defended. "They're gangsters, this is way too much!"

"That doesn't seem to be stopping her." Shirou pointed out.

Kenichi realized Miu was facing them and looked concerned.

"She's in trouble!" Kenichi panicked, before being distressed. "…But I'm not strong and they're gangsters… This is not good at all!" He then looked down. unable to even look. "Besides in situations like this… It's better to just give them… What they want."

"Would you stop whining already." Shirou sighed. "Just sit back, I'll show you how it's done." He then began his approach.

"You've got a lot of guts, girl." The thug with sunglasses said, amused.

"Why did you guys push down the old man?" Miu questioned angrily.

"Who told him to walk in the middle of the road?" The thug with a scar responded. "We just pushed him to the side."

"But you guys parked your big car in the middle of the road." Miu argued. "That's annoying."

"So what? You weaklings only deserve to walk on the side!" The thug with a scar said arrogantly. "That's the nature of things, got it?

"That's right because we're strong we can do whatever we want!" The thug with a moustache agreed, with arrogance. "Just see for yourself! All these guys are obeying our rules, right?" As he said, people could be seen walking by but all of them averted their eyes and pretended they didn't notice what was going on. "You're all a bunch of weaklings!"

Miu remained unfazed. "Cut the crap and apologize." She demanded.

The thug with the moustache grabbed her arm angrily. "Dumb woman, what's your problem?"

"Looks like you really don't understand—" The thug with a scar started, before he was interrupted.

**Play OST - A Certain Magical Index - Accelerator Theme**

"God, shut up already." Shirou spoke out, approaching them. "Weakling this, Strong that. Why do all you third-strings say the same thing?"

_"Shirou?"_ Miu thought, surprised by her new friend's presence.

"Huh, who the hell are you?" The thug with the scar asked when he was right in front of him.

Shirou smirked and clenched his fists. "I'm the strong. And you're about to learn what being weak feels like!"

Quick as a flash Shirou dove in close and threw a straight punch at the thug that was holding Miu in the face. The punch gave him a bloody nose and caused him to release his grip. Shirou followed up in an instance and kicked the thug in the head, aiming directly for his temple, which made him groggy. He finished the job by decking down and hitting him with a strong blow to the gut which knocked the wind out of him and made the thug drop to the ground.

Kenichi watched from afar with amazement. _"Wow… That was amazing."_

_"His speed and timing were perfect, and his power is on point too."_ Miu thought, impressed by his assault. _"He must have had some serious training."_

The other two thugs were shocked and looked at Shirou with disbelief. The thug with sunglasses regained some sense and shout. "Hey! What the hell's wrong with you!?"

"What, you're the ones who said the weak only deserve to walk on the side." Shirou reminded him. "And since you guys are the weakest of all, you don't even deserve to stand. Only crawl."

"You Bastard!" The thug with sunglasses roared as he charged at him.

"Ah man, you're slow." Shirou mocked.

Shirou charged in himself and closed the distance in a second. Just as they were about to run past each other Shirou launched an overhead punch that landed dead-center in the thug's face, knocking him back a bit. Shirou then reached out and grabbed the thug's arm.

"You're gonna wish you'd just moved your car!" Shirou shouted, sadistic.

Putting his strength into his wrist and grip, he spun the thug around before throwing him forward, a direct collision to the large car. And upon collision, his body crashed into the car's windshield and broke through the glass.

The last remaining thug looked so angry that he could explode. Having had enough of this he reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife. "That's it. I'll kill you!"

Shirou kept his back turned and smirked. "You'll die trying."

The thug fell for his taunt and tried to rush in and slash him. But before he could, to both their surprise someone else finished him. It all happened in the blink of an eye. It was Miu who had jumped forward like a gust of wind and fly-kicked the thug in the face, instantly knocking him unconscious and knocking the knife in the air. The surprise didn't stop as she used his body as a springboard and jumped upwards in the air, with the grace and finesse of a feather she danced in the sky, back-flipped and landed on the ground on her feet like a Cat. The knife fell back down and she caught it in her hands.

**Music Off**

"That really made me mad." Miu stated, throwing away the knife.

In the swiftness of her attack, her glasses fell off and it almost felt like she had become a different person. Her eyes were definitely different, they seemed sharper and slit, like a Cat's eyes.

Kenichi just watched the whole thing and was completely blown away. _"A-Awesome… Her movements were as light as a feather."_

Shirou narrowed his eyes at Miu. _"Those moves… I've seen them before."_

He was taken out of his thoughts when Miu approached him and smiled, her eyes and expression back to normal. "Hey, thanks for helping me."

Shirou was a little surprised by the quick-shift in her attitude but didn't question.

"I didn't ask you for the assist." Shirou brushed her off. "I could've handled him myself."

Miu kept her smile. "Sorry, I just felt like I should have done something as well, after all I'm the one who picked a fight with them."

"I suppose, anyways." Shirou looked to his right and called out. "Hey Kenichi, you can stop hiding now!"

Kenichi almost tripped when he was suddenly over. But decided to come out from the corner and join up with the two of them.

"Kenichi was here too?" Miu asked, surprised.

"That was amazing you guys!" Kenichi praised in awe. "Shirou is one thing but I had no idea you could fight like that Miu."

"He's right, no ordinary girl could fight like that." Shirou agreed, though not as impressed. "Mind explaining yourself?"

Miu looked a bit nervous and scratched her head a little, trying to figure out what she should say.

* * *

A little while later the three of them had moved over to a nearby public park called Kirigakure park, Kenichi and Miu were sitting on a park bench while Shirou was leaning beside a nearby tree.

"I mean it though, thanks for helping me back there." Miu said gratefully.

"Enough of the thanks already." Shirou said looking away. "Just answer me, are you a Martial Artist?"

Miu nodded, a bit nervous. "Yeah, I didn't want to hide it, I just wanted to try and be normal for a bit."

"You lost the chance to be normal when you flipped Kenichi this morning." Shirou told her drily.

Kenichi sighed depressed. "Between the two of you, I think I'm starting to feel weaker than normal."

Miu placed a hand on his shoulder. "Kenichi, I just want you to know, that guy from your club who told you Martial Arts is for the strong, he doesn't know what he's talking about."

"What do you mean by that?" Kenichi asked, interested.

"My Sensei has always explained it to me like this; The Martial Arts were originally created to help the weak fight against the strong." Miu recited. "That means someone's size isn't really important. So the guy from the club really has it backwards."

"That's the same right Shirou said." Kenichi noted, surprised. "But his version was a lot rougher."

"Or maybe you guys are too soft." Shirou argued.

"But that still doesn't solve my problem, I've only got a week left to live." Kenichi groaned depressed until he remembered something. "Oh! My How-To Books!"

Kenichi reached into his bag and was about to open a book until Shirou looking feed up punched into the tree and turned to Kenichi.

"Put the books away before I take them away." Shirou warned him.

Complying with his demanded Kenichi put away his book, then looked like he had another idea. "Wait, Shirou why don't you fight Daimonji instead."

Shirou shook his head. "That won't work, the fight's been set up as an official bout between two members of the club which I'm not apart of and you technically still are until after the fight, you can't just have someone fight for you. And besides." Shirou looked at him seriously. "I may be your friend but I won't fight your battles for you, this fight is something you need to handle by yourself."

"I'm deaaaddd!" Kenichi cried out, giving up all hope.

Miu closed her eyes and smiled at him. "Listen… If you're really serious about getting strong then I think I know of a place that can help you out, if you're willing to give it a try." She suggested.

"Think they can teach me to take out thugs like you just did?!" Kenichi asked excited and hopeful.

"I can't answer that, I can tell you that in this place you'll get a lot stronger than you are right now, guaranteed." Miu assured him, before turning her head back "Though, when I say you'll get stronger, that's assuming you'll stay alive."

"Huh?"

Kenichi just seemed confused by that last part. So Shirou decided to ask.

"And let me guess, this place is the one that teaches the _real_ Martial Arts you were talking about this morning."

Miu just smiled at him. "And what would you do if I said yes?"

"I'd say I'm more interested after seeing you fight." Shirou answered. "Let me see for myself what it's like."

"Well since your both interested." Miu reached into her school bag and took out a piece of paper. "If you're really determined, go to the place on this map tomorrow."

After handing Kenichi the map Miu stands up and walks away. Unfortunately though, once Kenichi and Shirou take a look at the map they realize a problem. They have no idea how to read it. Miu's direction and way of drawing landmarks and distances were the equivalents to how a child would draw a map and so, knowing that they wouldn't be able to find the location without a better understanding of the direction, Shirou took them to a place where he knew someone who could help them.

* * *

"Hey, I'm home!" Shirou shouted, slamming open a door.

Shirou had instructed Kenichi to follow him to his house. Shirou's home was an average two-floor house with a living room with large TV near the wall and a couch, a kitchen area, a dining room with a dinner table in the middle, and a glass door leading to the backyard. The second floor had three bedrooms and a bathroom.

"Why'd we come here?" Kenichi questioned, looking around.

"Because a smart guy I know lives here and he'll know how to translate the map." Shirou answered.

"Hey welcome back." A young voice greeted.

Coming downstairs was the person he spoke. He was a young boy a few inches shorter than Kenichi, he had pale-white skin and his blue eyes were the same color as Shirou's only they looked softer. Unlike Shirou he had jet-black hair that went up to his shoulders, it was smooth and straight, not like Shirou's that was spiky. He was dressed in a red dress shirt that had long sleeves, and black pants that looked comfortable for running. He also wore a pair of white socks.

This boy was Haruto Tsukiharu age 14, Shirou's younger Brother and a Third-year in Middle School.

"Oh, hey Haruto-Kun." Kenichi greeted.

"Hi, Kenichi." Haruto greeted back. "Nice to see you again."

Kenichi looked away and sweated a bit. _"I can't help but notice he doesn't call me Kenichi-san like when we were kids. Guess I shouldn't bring it up."_

"You came back later than usual, what happened?" Haruto asked, more curious than concerned. "Did you get into another fight?"

"No… I mean yes, but that's not what important." Shirou then took out the map. "We need your help to decipher this map."

Haruto took it while Kenichi just looked at Shirou dumbstruck.

"Hold on a second, you're telling me the "smart guy" you know was Haruto-Kun?" Kenichi questioned, Skeptical. "You seriously think your little Brother can figure out that mess?"

"Don't be skeptical, he's actually a lot smarter than most people seem to think. Plus he's an expert at figuring things out with only a little information and working out a hidden problem." Shirou reasoned. "And more importantly, he's way smarter than you."

"Was that last part really necessary!" Kenichi shouted back, insulted.

Meanwhile Haruto was looking over the map while scratching his head. "I'm going on a limb here and guessing a girl drew this."

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Kenichi asked.

"It wasn't all that hard." Haruto answered deadpan. The map had directions like _first this pretty place_, _where the Cat sleeps take a left_ or _go over this brick wall_. And more than that there were some drawing of flowers, a Cat and a sun with a smiley face, there wasn't a single landmark and all the roads were curly. "Where exactly is the map supposed to lead you?"

"To a place where the girl said to go to tomorrow night so we can get stronger so Kenichi can get strong enough to beat a bully in the Karate club that was using him as a punching bag and have now set him up for a fight he can't possibly win as a way to entertain themselves." Shirou said all that without stopping or slowing down.

"That simple huh?" Haruto asked, having followed all that.

_"What is with this family?"_ Kenichi thought, before thinking about it more. _"But then again, I don't really have room to talk."_

"Well, I think I can draw a more readable map by tomorrow." Haruto guessed. "But without knowing exactly where the destination is I can only guess based on the route."

"Good enough." Shirou then turned to Kenichi. "Let's meet up tomorrow night."

Kenichi nodded, pleased. "Alright."

* * *

The next day after school was over and night fell over the town once again, the two boys meet up and followed the map to find wherever Miu wanted them to go. With the new map Haruto made being much easier to read than the first one made by Miu, they were able to find the place a lot sooner than they had expected. The place they had found though, in a word was… Intimidating.

It was a very large gate to an even larger dojo and stone walls surrounding the place in a square shape. Over the wall, near the edge they could see an extremely large forest area within the confines of the wall. One look was enough for anyone to guess; this place wasn't normal. On top of the front gate had a sigh that had Kanji written on it. The Kanji said Ryozanpaku.

"Ryozanpaku?" Shirou read out loud. "Isn't that the name of a mountain of something."

"Are you really sure this is the place?" Kenichi asked, still unsure.

"Only way to be sure is to go inside and ask." Shirou suggested.

"Yeah, you're right." Kenichi then shook his head and looked determined. "I've gotten this far, so there's no reason to be scared!"

After saying that he rushed forward and tried to push the front gate open only to find that it wouldn't budge no matter how hard he pushed.

"Uwahh… This is heavy! Move dammit!" Kenichi grunted, struggling. "Ughhh… It's not moving! Is it bolted down or something?!"

Shirou sighed and stepped forward. "Just step back, Kenichi."

With a mighty push, Shirou slammed his hands into the gate and tried to push it open. Like Kenichi, he was having trouble making them even budge, but after a loud grunt he was not only able to make the doors budge but even made a small opening. He then pulled back and took a breather.

"Man, that is heavy." Shirou stretched out his arms. "But I think I can open it after a few more seconds."

"Here, why don't you let me try."

A muscular hand reached past them and with one finger pushed the doors open.

Turning around the two of them saw the owner of that voice and their eyes widened in shock. It was a giant of an old man, or close to a giant at least. The man standing before them was a massive man in a long green kimono, which clung tightly to his heavily muscular body, bandages wrapped around his arms which were most likely for Martial Arts and he also wore sandals. He had a build that makes a professional bodybuilder look puny by comparison. The fact was he was way over 6 feet tall. He was a fair-skinned with blue eyes and blonde hair. His hair reaches to his mid-back and he also had a chest-length beard along with a moustache.

"What business brings you here, young ones?" The old man asked softly. "To our Ryozanpaku?"

_"This old man."_ Shirou looked at him astonished.

Kenichi was cowering at the sight of him. "B-Business ah, I was just leaving!" He screamed as he tried to run away, but before he could get far the old man appeared in front of his path and cut him off, which made Kenichi bump into him and fall to the ground.

"What? He moved so fast I couldn't see a thing. It's like he teleported." Shirou said quietly, amazed.

Kenichi just looked completely bewildered, looking back and forth at where the old man is to where he was. "What the…?! Did you just, warp!?" He then started shaking and quietly asked. "How'd you do that?"

"Judging by the look on your face I'm not sure you could handle the answer to that question." The old man noted. "Try to calm down a bit."

"He's right." Shirou flicked Kenichi's forehead. "Keep freaking out like that and you might faint."

"Sorry." Kenichi got up and face the old man excited. "By any chance, are you a Martial Arts Master?"

The old man cheerfully laughed. "Haha, I wouldn't call myself a Master but, ever since my younger days I've never lost a fight."

"I've never lost a fight either." Shirou pointed out.

"Is that so? Then I think you'll like it here." The old ma told him happily.

"S-Sir, I'm Kenichi Shirahama and this is my friend Shirou Tsukiharu." Kenichi introduced them while bowing. "We were sent here by Miu Furinji, it's both an honor and a pleasure to meet you."

"Settle down boy scout." Shirou told him drily.

"That was quite an impressive introduction young man, your manners are excellent but there's no need to be formal around here." The old man stroked his beard and walked through the gate. "So then, Miu sent you two huh?"

"Yes." Kenichi confirmed following him inside.

"This should be interesting." Shirou commented following them.

* * *

**And that's the chapter. First of all, something I always like doing is going into the lore of the world the story is taking place in and as such I explained at the beginning of this chapter that the town they live in is pretty much lawless for the most part. And when you think about it that would explain why everyone can get into so many fights, disturb the peace, use dangerous weapons and even trash an entire public restaurant without ever getting in trouble. Plus after watching the anime, I've never seen a police officer in any episode, even once. So yeah, the town has no cops.**

**Now as for the main character, yes I placed a Shirou Tsukiharu in this world to because I wanted to create a character who was the complete opposite of Kenichi. Strong, brave, confident, reliable, talented and a Delinquent. And Shirou fit that perfectly so it was easier than just making up a completely new character.**

**Though as you saw in this chapter he has a younger Brother and a father. Those two will be very important characters in the story, just not now. Haruto is a character I just made up but he has a role in the story, and Shirou's father is someone we'll meet later, but he'll also have a role to play.**

**As for Shirou's strength, he's not overpowered or anything, he just knows how to hold his own in a fight and he'll have a lot of good fights as the plot progresses, it just doesn't take much to beat ordinary thugs or canon fodder. And he's speciality is Mix Martial Arts because I think that style is a good match for someone who wants to fight freely.**

**Now just to let you all know, I still plan on giving my full attention to the stories I'm currently writing and even though I really want to write this story, It'll be hard to give it the same amount of attention as the others so updates on this will usually take a while, if that's not to much trouble though, stay tuned. **

**Anyways thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, if you want more then be sure to leave a review, if you like the story click the follow/favourite, and as always have an awesome day.**


	2. Where The Strong Gather Ryozanpaku

**Hey everyone and get ready for this chapter. This chapter will mainly be an introduction chapter to set the groundwork for the story, we'll be meeting the residents of Ryozanpaku and seeing the meetings between them and our Protagonists. This chapter will also have Shirou show the current limit of his strength and abilities and what the Masters think of it. Hope you enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fan-based parody, History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi is owned by Funimation and Syun Matsuena, Please support the official release.**

* * *

"Shirou" Regular speech.

_"Shirou"_ Thoughts.

**_SEIKUKEN_** Attack names.

_(Shirou)_ Words said previously.

[Shirou] Words said in unison.

* * *

**Where The Strong Gather; Ryozanpaku**

* * *

After letting them through the front door. The Elder had begun leading Shirou and Kenichi through the dojo. While walking around they noticed the dojo was a very beautiful place. It was a traditional Japanese design that carried an aura of peace and serenity. It was peaceful enough that for once Kenichi wasn't freaking out.

"Um Sir, what exactly do you teach here? I mean, you teach Karate right?" Kenichi asked with a hopeful tone.

The Elder replied with a nod. "Um-hmm, among other things, yes."

_"That's awesome."_ Kenichi thought, relieved.

"What kind of 'other things' do you mean?" Shirou asked, more interested in that topic.

"See for yourself." The Elder advised, pointing to his right.

The instant they looked at the direction he was pointing in, the aura of peace and serenity Kenichi felt was replaced by fear and dread, while Shirou, on the other hand, felt shock and amazement.

What they saw was a giant of a man who was punching a sandbag with fists that looked strong enough to destroy stone. He is extremely tall and powerfully built, he had a build that was more muscular than even the Elder. He also has tanned skin, short spiky silver hair, and is seen wearing a yellow tank and red shorts and a mongkol around his head with bandages wrapped around his hands and feet.

"What is that monster and where on earth did it come from?" Kenichi asked, stricken with horror.

"That's Apachai Hopachai from Thailand." The Elder answered, nonchalant. "Only 28 years old, believe or not."

"Not just that, he's doing textbook Muay Thai combo patterns." Shirou added, clearly impressed.

The Elder looked at Shirou with a little interest. "Well now, I didn't think you'd be aware of that. Have you studied Muay Thai before?"

"I know enough." Shirou replied, not saying more. Then he thought. _"But's this is beyond anything I've seen. Not only does he have the build of a Heavyweight, but his form and technique are also so good he's like a machine. Every individual punch has enough power to end a fight and using so many combo's one after another creates a rush that could rip apart a truck. I've never met anyone this good."_

"A-Amazing." Kenichi uttered as if saying what Shirou was thinking in a single word.

Apachai who had heard him become more fired up and let loose an unbelievable power uppercut that sent the sandbag flying upwards. He then did a quick-shift towards a small stone-statue and with a powerful elbow, he smashed the stone into pebbles. But the giant wasn't finished, he followed by kicking to trees and cut them down as if his kicks were chopping axes.

With every move, Shirou looked on in awe at the display of power while Kenichi kept crying out in fear and disbelief. Until the Elder covered Kenichi's mouth the calm him down.

"Be careful you don't speak too loud." The Elder advised him. "If he hears you he might start showing off."

"I think it's a little late for that." Shirou pointed out.

And as he said Apachai had moved on to punching the stone wall and was throwing a volley of punches so strong they kept denting the wall until it looked like the wall would be destroyed. "Alright! That's enough Apachai!" The Elder shouted, losing his patience.

"Is he always like this?" Kenichi asked, feeling nervous.

"We don't get many visitors so having guests probably put him in a good mood." The Elder explained as he continued showing them around.

_"No visitor's, exactly… What kind of place is this?"_ Kenichi thought, now starting to sweat. _"I am determined but it'll all be in vain if I die on the first day."_

_"While that was impressive, I get this strange feeling that was just the start of things."_ Shirou thought, turning to Kenichi and become annoyed. _"And that look probably means, he's already lost his nerve."_

As they were walking, they happen to pass by a room where the sliding door was open and they could barely see through it. His curiosity getting the better of him and Kenichi decided to peak through the door, Shirou looked over his shoulder. Inside was a fairly normal-looking room that didn't have much in it, except for several different Swords placed around like they were on display. But what got their attention was the woman in the center.

She is a fairly tall and beautiful young woman with a slender frame yet remarkably curvaceous-figure and well-endowed breasts. She has long waist-length raven hair usually tied back in a high ponytail, peach skin, and light purple eyes. She wears a purple choker around her neck that contains numerous small pins. She is dressed in a small pink kimono and long purple stockings; underneath she wears bandages over her chest and a fundoshi. Shirou also noticed that she had a tsuba-less nodachi strapped to her back with a makeshift grip of bandages wrapped around the hilt.

While Kenichi gushed at the sight of her. "Haaa, Miu is definitely cute but this girl is HOT, maybe she could give me some _private lessons_~"

Shirou just looked at him unimpressed. "Why do you only ever act a like a man in the most useless ways?"

However, her next move silenced them both. As if by some unknown signal, she stood up, drew her Sword from its sheath and slashed out with a blinding speed that made her blade resemble a transparent-blur. And just as fast as she started she stopped and like magic all the other Swords around her shattered. All the while her eyes looked so sharp and focused it was almost like she could cut someone with her gaze alone.

Like before Kenichi was scared stiff, while Shirou looked at her with a newfound interest.

_"Not only could I not see her Sword, but I also couldn't even follow the moves of the hand holding the Sword."_ Shirou thought, analyzing her like Apachai. _"She even aimed her attack specifically at those Swords and controlled her power enough to only shatter them without unnecessary damage to her surroundings, and to top it all of she barely looked like she was trying, so there's no telling how good she really is."_

"Show yourself… What business do you have with me…? Speak." The woman spoke in a stoic, almost emotionless tone.

"N-Nothing, I was just—" Kenichi frantically tried to defend himself.

However, she didn't even notice him and turned her attention to the floor. "Kensei Ma… I know exactly where you're hiding… And so does my Sword."

With those words, she stabbed her Sword into the floor between two tatami mats. And then seeming from out of nowhere a person burst out from the mats and landed behind the woman.

The man apparently named Kensei can be described as a fairly short middle-aged man, around five feet one, or maybe two if he stood up straight. He is fair-skinned with a long pointed out Chinese moustache. He wears typical Chinese clothing used in Martial Arts which consisted of a long green shirt lined gold. With a black hat, pants and slip shoes along with white socks. Spiky brown hair sticks out from his hat. One thing worth mentioning was that he was holding a camera.

"Relax~ Shigure. I was just passing through, making sure everything is still on the up and up, down below, looking good." He explained in a fast and upbeat manner.

"That doesn't explain the camera your holding…" The woman known as Shigure reminded him, still gripping her weapon. "What were you taking pictures of down there…?"

Now Kensei seemed nervous. "Uh… What do you mean?" He then made a run for it.

Shigure didn't let him go and threw some shuriken at Kensei. Though through amazing speed, skill and finesse; Kensei easily dodged them and caught them. Two with his hands and the third with his mouth. A fourth one flew past him and was on a direct course for Kenichi, luckily he was saved by the Elder who caught the Shuriken right before it hit.

Kenichi now realizing he was almost hit shrieked and fell down, while Kensei dashed past them and ran off.

"I wouldn't recommend snooping around here, young man." The Elder advised him.

Shirou was now thinking about Kensei. _"That guy, he looked like some middle-aged man. But that speed, he was so fast it looked like he just vanished. And the finesse of his moves were as slick and a Cobra-snake. No doubt, he probably has enough skill to end the fight before the other guy even know what attack hit him."_

* * *

The Elder had finally stopped after leading Shirou and Kenichi in front of a door to another room and turned back to face the two of them.

"Now then, I'm about to introduce you to the Karate teacher you've been looking for." He informed Kenichi. "But I have to warn you, he can difficult."

"Um okay." Kenichi replied, timidly.

"Hey Sakaki, I need a favor." The Elder called out after opening the door.

Inside the room was similar to the room Shigure was in, in the fact that there was hardly anything in it. Expect a for two large tatami mats that had two ropes attached tops that were tied to the ceiling, with drawings of a human outline on both of them. And standing in between them was the Karate teacher the Elder called Sakaki.

Sakaki is a tall man who is clearly over six feet tall and has a largely-muscled build maybe as equally muscular as Apachai. He also has tan-skinned man, short eggplant-colored hair with a longer strand hanging over his face. He has had a long, jagged scar that runs horizontally across the bridge of his nose. He is seen shirtless while wearing a brown leather jacket and blue jeans with bandages wrapped around his forearms. Everything about him gives off the aura of someone intimidating.

After hearing the Elder request, Sakaki responded frowning as if he was preparing for a fight.

"Uh uh, no way, I don't take Disciples. How many times we gotta go over this, Gramps?" Sakaki answered as if it wasn't even up for debate.

The Elder grinned back at the two of them amused while stroking his moustache. "Told ya."

_"He doesn't sound like a teacher."_ Kenichi thought intimidated.

Shirou just looked at Sakaki, as if he was trying to analyze him.

Sasaki then started to chug a bottle of alcohol and then smirked. "It's a bad idea old man, let's suppose I did let him become my pupil…" As if to make a point Sakaki used his grip to shatter the bottle he was holding, then turning his attention to the training mats in front of him and let loose a barrage of fast punches that hit within the human-shaped outlines, knocking holes in them everywhere. Sakaki then turned back at them and said. "He'd be dead in three days time."

"You don't say. Well, that's just too bad." Kenichi rubbing the back of his head while smiling, feeling just about ready to give up. "The man obviously doesn't want to take on a Disciple, oh well."

_"Those punches weren't just fast but packed serious power to, and both the aim and accuracy of his attacks were not only perfectly on point but they all hit a vital spot on the human body."_ Shirou thought, realizing how skilled Sakaki is. _"His level is way beyond Black-belt, no it's beyond anything ordinary Karate can reach."_

Kenichi then tried to leave. "Thanks anyway, I'll be going now."

Before he could take a step though, Shirou grabbed him by the back of his collar and held him in place. Much to Kenichi's dismay.

"I'd admit it, you are incredibly strong." Shirou approached him, still confident. Refusing to let himself be intimidated. "But don't get it twisted, you're not so strong that any training you throw at me could kill me, and three days?" He scoffed, now right in front of Sakaki. "You couldn't kill me in three years."

Sakaki just stared down at him, looking a bit more interested now compared to before. "Ah, looks like you got guts punk. Maybe I wouldn't mind training you, only to test that little theory of yours."

They both smirked at each other, like two brawlers trying to pick a fight. Kenichi however looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

"Gah, please don't pick a fight here, we or more accurately I won't survive." Kenichi pleaded with fear. "Now can we just go?!"

Kenichi tried dragging him away by the arm but then suddenly another door opened and someone new walked into the room.

This person is a man of above-average height, maybe around Shirou's height. He has messy black hair and slightly tanned skin. He is wearing a white hakama that hung loosely lean frame. Despite his relatively small physique, he has a developed build and well-defined muscles. He also has a small and well-groomed moustache. A unique trait in his appearance is the dull and nearly colorless pupils of his eyes that almost made it seem like he was blind.

When Shirou saw him he knew right away that he was completely different from the rest. _"From the way he looks you'd think he's the only normal one. But the feeling I get from him is nothing like all the others, he hasn't done anything big or impressive, yet just standing looking at him makes me feel on edge. There's no doubt that he's strong, but he doesn't feel like a human, or a person with the instincts of a wild beast. It's like I'm facing down a mountain or something."_

Shirou realized that if this man could make him feel this way by just standing before him, then he was clearly a force of nature on the same calibre as the other fighters he had seen here. And that made him even more interested. Kenichi however…

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Kenichi screamed at the sight of him and then fainted, falling to the floor.

Shirou groaned. _"He might be my friend, but why's he gotta be such a pussy?"_

Sakaki, the man who had just arrived and the Elder gathered around the fallen Kenichi.

"This kid seems kinda high-strung." Sakaki noted.

"He's certainly energetic." The other man noted.

"By the way, who are you?" Shirou asked him.

"Oh forgive me, I am the Judo teacher of this dojo; Akisame Koetsuji." The now named Akisame introduced himself.

"So then punk, since you know our names why not introduce yourself?" Sakaki advised him.

"I'm Shirou Tsukiharu." He introduced himself not changing his mood, then he pointed to his fallen friend. "Oh yeah and that's Kenichi."

* * *

A short while later Kenichi was moved to a different room and sitting beside him was Miu, only she looked different compared to earlier or at school.

Here Miu had discarded her glasses and let her hair, including her bangs, to flow freely. She is currently in a purple-spandex outfit that greatly showed off her curves and onto of that she had on a pink T-shirt with a single paw print design on it. It is also clear to see that in this current attire, she wasn't wearing any underwear.

"Kenichi… Kenichi." Miu called out, worried about him.

Waking up to the sound of her voice, Kenichi sat up. "Miu?"

"You fainted, are you feeling alright?" Miu asked, still concerned.

Kenichi looked around alert, still worried. "W-We should get out of here, this place is really dangerous!"

Miu just had an apologetic smile. "Actually, this place… This is my home."

Kenichi gasped at this new information, looking ready to faint again. Without him even noticing the Elder had appeared right behind Miu.

"And this my Grandfather." Miu pointed to the Elder.

"AAAAAHHH—" Before Kenichi could finish screaming he was hit by a hard and painful chop to the head.

The one responsible was Shirou who had appeared behind him. "Would it kill you to go five minutes without screaming your lungs out?"

* * *

Now that everyone had gathered in the same room the Elder began to introduce them.

Sakaki Shio — 100th level Karate Fighter.

Apachai Hopachai — The Muay Thai God of Death.

Kensei Ma — Master of all Chinese Kenpo.

Akisame Koetsuji — The philosophical Judo Master.

Shigure Kosaka — The Prodigy of Swords and Weapons.

The Elder then pointed to himself. "And me Hayato Furinji."

Shirou raised a brow. "T-That's it?"

"What do you mean?" The Elder asked cheerfully.

"You gave everyone else some grand introduction with some flashy title, yet you barely said a thing about yourself?" Shirou told him, finding it strange.

"Hahaha! Oh, that's just because I'm nothing special." The Elder brushed off with a laugh. "Never you mind."

_"And we all know that's not true."_ Shirou thought, rolling his eyes.

"Anyways, that is how it is." The Elder continued. "This is a dojo that helps people cultivate their skills in order to reach their goals to master the Martial Arts. We don't consider ourselves the best dojo around…" While he talked, both his and all the other adults were staring them down, as if their eyes were glowing. "But we welcome you both to Ryozanpaku."

Kenichi was sitting there on his knees, sweating and trembling. _"I wanna go home!"_

Shirou was sitting comfortably, staring back at them without feeling the pressure. _"I'm so glad I came here."_

Miu let out a small sigh and got up. "Well then, I'll run down to the kitchen to make everybody some tea." She said while leaving.

Kenichi became even more afraid the moment Miu was gone, while Shirou either didn't notice or didn't care. The Masters were staring down at them while surrounded by strange, almost visible auras.

"Is it just me, or did Miu just dump this kid on us and take off." Sakaki noted, referring to Kenichi.

"Ah Miu, she's like a child who wants to help a butterfly escape from a spider web, but when things get a little sticky she shows her age by running away." The Elder added amused.

"That was a superb analogy." Kensei commented with a laugh.

"So what do think we should do with this, baby butterfly?" Akisame asked.

"What about the… Other one?" Shigure asked, pointing to Shirou. "He seems… Different. Not like of a… butterfly…"

"Apa is true, he doesn't seem scared at all." Apachai agreed.

"Hmph, scared?" Shirou scoffed, standing up. "You've been rambling on by yourselves for a while, acting like I'm not here. And everything you say is just a bunch of bullcrap." He then smirked while glaring at them. "If you honestly think you can scare me with some stupid glares then you must take me for some third-string weakling or think too big of yourselves."

Though while he was standing tall and proud, Kenichi unfortunately couldn't say the same and stood while still shaking and hiding behind Shirou with his hands gripping on Shirou's shoulders.

Now some of them became a little intrigued by Shirou's boldness and Kensei asked. "Hmm, fascinating. I must say I wasn't expecting that." He then turned to Sakaki. "So what do we make of that?"

"There's nothing to say." Sakaki shrugged. "All I see is a wolf-cub trying to roar, with a scared chiwawa-dog cowering behind its leg."

Apa heard that analogy and pictured it in his mind. In his mind was a small wolf with Shirou's head bearing its fangs while a little chiwawa with Kenichi's head kept shaking and was heading behind the wolf. And in real life, he sees the two humans are in the same position.

"Your thoughts?" Akisame turned to the Elder.

"Well now, I think we should let the wolf and dog speak for themselves." The Elder suggested approaching them. "Are you certain you're ready to receive our teachings?"

Shirou didn't hesitate to answer. "You bet your beard I am."

The Elder nodded accepting his answer, then turned to Kenichi. "And you?"

Kenichi then stopped shaking and looked surprised, Shirou also moved away so Kenichi couldn't hide behind him and so he could talk.

The Elder continued. "It's a simple question Kenichi but I'll ask it again which you devote yourself to our training and join Ryozanpaku?"

Kenichi hesitated for a moment, then had a look of determination in his eyes and nodded.

"Yes, I want to be stronger." He said free of doubt.

The Elder smiled at his answer. And since both of had made their decision, Kensei appeared in front of them and brought out a small table and placed a long scroll with an ink brush on the table and placed it in front of them.

"Excellent, just sign your names on this contract." Kensei instructed them.

Kenichi smiled and picked up the brush. "Sure."

But before he could sign it, Shirou stopped him and took the brush.

"Hold on, don't just sign a contract without reading it." Shirou warned him, then turning to Kensei. "What's the price?"

"40,000 Yen a month." Kensei answered, holding up two fingers. "20,000 from each of you."

"That's too much!" Kenichi cried out.

Shirou glared at Kensei and demanded. "Make it 1,000 Yen each."

"That's too little!" Kenichi cried out.

"…10,000, take it or leave it." Kensei offered, a little nervous.

Shirou scowled and narrowed his eyes. "3,000 or we walk."

.

.

.

Soon Miu walked back in holding a tray of teacups. "I've got your tea! Here you go." She placed three teacups on the table for Shirou, Kenichi and Kensei.

"Oh thank you." Kenichi said gratefully.

"Thank you." Kensei also said, before turning back to Shirou.

Shirou just kept his focus on the contract.

"5,000 Yen, that's my final offer." Kensei offered, sounding desperate.

"4,000 Yen, I won't go any higher." Shirou threatened, not willing to discuss it.

_"What is with these two?"_ Kenichi thought, with a little sweat. _"The price is less than one-fifth of the original, it's like their acting out a crime deal or something."_

"That's enough, Kensei." Akisame advised him. "It's vulgar to beg."

"Now, now, Akisame it's all right." The Elder defended, while Kenichi was taking out his wallet. "The truth of the matter is our dojo is experiencing financial difficulty,"

Kenichi took out 4,000 Yen from his wallet. "You've got money problems?"

"I'll take that." Kensei took the money, while Shirou was signing the contract.

Shirou then angrily took out his own money. "Here's 4,000 Yen and not a cent more."

Kensei happily took it as well. "Ah, thank you."

Shirou then grumbled angrily. "4,000 Yen a month, that's a goddamn steal."

"Well uh, we've managed thanks to Miu's clever bookkeeping." The Elder explained while stroking his beard.

Kenichi gasped surprised. "She's only in High School and she's in charge of keeping your books?"

"Yes, and the laundry, and the cooking, and the cleaning and everything else." Kensei explained, putting the scroll in his sleeve. "Indeed, without our Miu we'd be a pretty pathetic bunch of Martial Arts Masters."

"You know self-sufficiency is also an important skill a Martial Artist should work to master." Shirou told them, unimpressed.

"Haha." The Elder chuckled, while Miu gave him his tea. "True, but unfortunately That's something we've just never fully grasped in our training."

While they were talking Kenichi was daydreaming, having his own delusions about what Kensei had told him and was clearly thinking too hard about it, letting his imagination run wild. Shirou noticed the expression he was making and gave him to chop to the head, which woke him up.

"Ouch, why'd you hit me?!" Kenichi asked upset while rubbing his head.

"You were just imagining something stupid, weren't you?" Shirou asked, although he already knew the answer.

Kenichi blinked then just looked away sheepishly. After that, Miu came up to the two of them.

"So tell me, what kind of techniques are you guys hoping to learn?" Miu asked, curious.

"Well, I've always really liked Karate." Kenichi said, with a hand on his chin. "It would awesome if we could start that."

The Elder looked to Sakaki to hear his answer.

"I TOLD YOU I DO NOT TAKE ON DISCIPLES!" Sakaki roared, which terrified Kenichi, so much so that he fell over.

"You don't have to yell, we're right here." Shirou told him annoyed.

"Actually… I think it would be… best if you taught him… Akisame." Shigure suggested.

"Oh yeah, do you think so?" Akisame pondered.

"Yes, she's right." The Elder agreed with the idea. "You have experience teaching our disciplines, Akisame. You will make a fine instructor." He said before drinking his tea. "Besides, anyone else and the boy will be dead in a week."

After saying that it looked almost as if the other Masters' eyes glowed red for a bit, which made Kenichi flinch and start sweating. "M-Miu, h-help." He pleaded, while trembling and his teeth were chirping.

"Don't worry, Akisame is a very good teacher and he's a really nice man." Miu reassured him.

"Really, are you sure about that?" Kenichi asked, still afraid and shaking.

"For the most part." Miu answered, which didn't seem to help.

A tick mart appeared on Shirou's head as he became fed up. "Would you stop bitching already."

That made Kenichi stop and look at Shirou. "Huh?"

Shirou narrowed his eyes at him. "You're the one who came here despite the fact that you were told the training could kill you, yet every time someone so much as looks at you funny you become as spineless as a worm. If you're really so sacred then just shut up and go home already, Martial Arts isn't something you can learn without some pain and if you really want to learn it then suck it up and quit whining."

Kenichi heard his words and looked down, feeling a bit upset. Then he clenched his fists and looked up, looking less afraid. "I know that, and I won't run away from this. I came here prepared to learn Martial Arts and I will."

Miu was at first surprised by his sudden change in demeanor but then smiled. _"Shirou's words may seem rough, but he really helped Kenichi just now."_

The Elder noticed it as well. _"The boy seems to hold his friend in very high regard, that's why his words carry so much weight to him. And the other one, he's telling him to right words to see if he's made for this or not, helping him train his resolve."_ He smiled amused. _"They make an interesting pair, these two."_

Now that Kenichi was calm, Akisame walked up to him.

"So this will be your beginning in the training of Martial Arts?" Akisame asked.

"A-ah, yes." Kenichi answered with haste. "A guy at the Karate club wants to fight me, I think he wants to kill me."

_"Kill him?"_ Miu thought, surprised.

"I see, you've got a bully after you." Akisame confirmed, before smiling. "I can relate believe or not, I was pushed around, bullied and beaten up when I was a boy." He consoled him, earning a surprised look from Kenichi, and an interested look from Miu and Shirou. "Well, Jujitsu is the perfect disciple for protecting yourself. And don't worry, contrary to popular belief, I'm not a strict teacher."

Kenichi smiled relieved. "Perfect."

Shirou looked at him suspiciously. _"He's lying, I can tell by that stupid grin on his face."_

"And you?" The Elder addressed Shirou. "Which of the Masters would you like to train under?"

"Which one?" Shirou asked, thinking it over.

Miu came up to him. "If you have trouble deciding you could just train with Akisame for now." She suggested. "Or Kensei, he has experience training others."

"It's true." Kensei confirmed, with a grin.

"Apa, or you could train with Apachai." Apachai suggested, excited at the idea.

Sakaki put his hand on Apachai's shoulder. "Easy there big guy, you don't want to kill the punk do ya?"

Shirou looked at all of them carefully, as if he was studying them. Thinking back on all the displays of skill, power, prowess, and capabilities they all demonstrated and used that as the bases for choosing which one he wanted to learn from.

After a few minutes, he smirked and pointed forward. "I pick you."

To the shock and disbelief of everyone present, even the Masters themselves, the person Shirou was pointing towards was, The Elder Hayato Furinji. The Elder however was just stroking his beard unfazed.

"Me? Well, that's a new one." He spoke with mild surprise and interest.

"You're either incredibly brave or unbelievably foolish." Akisame told him, grimly.

"Or his mind can't comprehend the overwhelming forces of nature in front of him." Kensei suggested another possibility.

"Ah, that could also be it." Akisame agreed, like he hadn't thought of that.

"Look punk, if you really want to die, there are less painful ways." Sakaki joined in, trying to talk him out of it.

"…Like standing… In front of… Traffic…" Shigure gave an example.

Kenichi seemed confused by all their reactions.

"Hey, Miu." Kenichi whispered to her. "Why are they acting like something crazy just happened?"

Miu looked at him worried. "It's because of my Grandfather. Unlike the other Masters, he's a Grand Master and the Strongest Martial Arts of Ryozanpaku." She explained. "The truth is even if each Master believes they're stronger than the other, they'll all admit Grandpa is still the Strongest, they couldn't beat him even if they all fought him together."

Kenichi gasped, almost not wanting to believe it. "Huh?! Seriously?"

Miu nodded, confirming it. "And because of that his training is much more intense than any of the others, he trained me when I was a girl but that was only the basics and he was taking it easy because of my age." She said grimly. "If he were to actually seriously train someone, I'm not sure if it's even safe to consider."

Now Kenichi looked terrified. "S-Shirou, please reconsider." He pleaded with his friend, fearing for his life.

Shirou didn't change his expression and just replied with. "I haven't heard your answer." He addressed the Elder. "Yes or no?"

The Elder stood up and walked up to him.

"Before I answer I'd like to ask you something." He stopped in front of Shirou. "Why is it that you want my training, what motivates you?"

"I want to get stronger." Shirou answered, like it was obvious.

"From what my Granddaughter has told me you are already quite strong." The Elder pointed out. "You're far stronger than most your age and you have great potential, you've already been acknowledged by your peers as one of the Strongest fighters in this town as well."

"Hmph, one of the Strongest?" Shirou scoffed. "Something like that is meaningless to me." He looked at the Elder with determination. "What I want is to undeniably be nothing less the Strongest, that there'll be no doubt that I'm number 1 and that there will be no question that none can stand on the same level as me."

"And why is it that you desire such power?" The Elder questioned, looking him in the eye. "Your answer will be decided what my answer will be on your training."

The Elder looked at him as if he was testing him, that this was a trial he had to pass and he was now faced with a riddle and he had figure out the correct answer, it wasn't just the Elder though, all the Masters were watching him with the same expression, wanting to see how this would play out. Shirou sighed and spoke nonetheless.

"It's so I can fulfil a promise." Shirou told him.

"A promise you say?" The Elder repeated, now interested. "With whom?"

"It was with a friend I had, back when I was a kid." Shirou started. "I won't go into details but, back then we had a fight that was no different from any ordinary kids-fight on a playground, but when it was over we made a promise; we'd both get stronger, a lot stronger, and one day when we got older and met again we'd have a real fight." He then made a fist. "And I've been getting stronger every day since then to fulfil that promise."

"And how are you sure this friend of yours even remembers this promise?" The Elder asked the look on his face was like that of a judge trying to decide if a person was guilty or not.

"He does remember." Shirou stated, absolutely sure of that fact. "He's not like some ordinary kid who would just forget something like that, I know for a fact that he hasn't forgotten that day. That's why I came here, to be strong enough to win when we fight."

The Elder didn't change his expression. "How do you know you already aren't already strong enough as you are now?"

Shirou just smirked. "If he's really the person I know he is, then my current self isn't enough. These past few years I've been training as hard as I could because I could always picture him training just as hard, even now I can picture it clearly, he's probably training so hard he can barely breathe. And knowing that has always motivated me to push myself harder." He then opened his fist and looked at his palm. "That's why I'll train under whoever I need to in order to become the Strongest I can be. If I show up as any less than that." He then smiled. "He'd laugh at me."

After hearing that the Elder simply smiled. "I understand."

Some of the Masters smiling as well. The atmosphere of the room had now changed, if before it felt like the Elder was testing him than it now felt like Shirou had passed his test. The only one who couldn't read the room was Kenichi.

"Whoa, that's weird." Kenichi said, surprised by his answer. "I never knew you had something like that, who'd you make the promise with? Do I know him?"

"What? Are you serious right now?" Shirou asked him, incredulously. "You're telling me you don't remember? You were there too."

"I was?" Kenichi scratched his head, completely lost.

Shirou face-palmed. "I should've known you'd forget. You _are_ like some ordinary kid."

"Well excuse me for being ordinary!" Kenichi shouted, insulted.

"Very well then." The Elder stood in front of him. "I've heard your honest intentions and have made my decision on what training you shall receive."

"So what's the final say, old man?" Shirou asked, with anticipation.

"I have decided that… I will train you." The Elder answered after a dramatic pause, this answer still surprised some of the others. But he smiled showing he wasn't done. "Provided you fulfil a certain requirement."

Shirou raised a brow. "And what requirement is that?"

The Elder pointed to those behind him. "You must undergo training from each and every Master of Ryozanpaku and became a Martial Artist that is completely adapt and can freely wield each of their styles. If you can overcome their training, then you'll have earned the right to become my Disciple."

"Train with all of them." Kenichi repeated, agasped. "Can anyone actually accomplish that?"

"I don't know, I've never seen them train with a Disciple, but still that's a really tall order Grandpa's giving him." Miu said, worried. "All their training is already high levelled by themselves, to have them all share the same Disciple could be pretty rough."

"Hmph, so in the end, the old man is shifting things to us." Sakaki grunted.

"Maybe, but let's wait and see how things work out for the time being." Akisame advised.

"Earn the right?" Shirou repeated, before smirking. "You acting a bit full of yourself aren't you, looking down on me like that?" He then stood up, confident. "Fine, I'll earn your right and clean sweep all their training. So which one's first?"

"That's for you to decided." Akisame told him. "As always it's up to the Disciple to choose who he wants to train with. Pick whichever order you like.

"Okay then, I pick…" Shirou looked over his options for a second before he made his decision. "…You."

This time, once again to the surprise of many of those present he was pointing to none other than, Apachai.

"APA!" Apachai threw his arms up in the air, very excited and happy about being chosen. He even grabbed Shigure's hand and jumped up with joy. "Apachai gets to have a Disciple! Apapapapa!"

"Yay." Shigure simply added, stoic as usual.

_"What is wrong with him?!"_ Kenichi cried out in his head, while comical tears were streaming down his eyes.

"Hahaha! Excellent choice." The Elder energetically laughed out, amused.

"First The Elder and now Apachai." Sakaki brought up. "Is he out of his mind or something?"

"Not exactly, I think he's perfectly aware of what he's getting into." Akisame argued. "From what I can see about him, he isn't so unaware that he can't see just how strong a Master-Class fighter is." He deduced. "And on his way in he saw each of us show a unique demonstration of our abilities, from that he gathered that Apachai has the most destructive power among all of us. That's why he choose him, he wants to face the full force of our training and so that he can stand his ground no matter what is thrown at him."

"So basically he training to say 'Hit me with your best shot, you don't scare me', huh?" Sakaki figured with a grin. "Spoken like a punk."

"But… He didn't technically… Speak." Shigure reminded him.

"It's a figure of speech!" Sakaki barked.

"Well then, I suppose we should begin." Akisame decided. "Come Kenichi, let's get started on our training."

"Wait but…" Kenichi spoke with a nervous demeanor. "What about Shirou?"

"Kenichi. I understand you're concerned for your friend, but you need to focus your attention on your own training as of this moment." Akisame told him, sternly. "Remember you only have little time before you face your bully, and he won't hold back regardless of if you're prepared or not."

"Ah, you're right." Kenichi realized, now more focused. "Let's start right away!"

Akisame smiled gently. "Of course, and like I said before; I am not a strict teacher."

Kenichi nodded and they departed from the room.

"Now then, why don't you two begin as well?" The Elder suggested.

"Apa, we go outside." Apachai decided and so he and Shirou departed from the room as well.

* * *

Once outside they stood at the clearing outside the door, while Miu and the rest of the Masters were by the porch planning to observe. They all watched with an interest to see how he would handle Apachai's training, while Miu watched with a little concern on whether of not Shirou would be too gravely injured.

Shirou and Apachai stood face to face a few feet from each other and both wearing boxing gloves.

Shirou looked prepared until he saw Apachai's expression. He had a look of eagerness and excitement like he couldn't wait to get started.

Shirou turned to the others a bit confused. "Is he always like this?"

"He's just excited." Kensei informed him. "This is the first time he's had a Disciple to train so he's feeling eager."

"Haven't seen him this excited since the last time we had hamburgers." Sakaki added, leaning by a wooden support pillar.

"Now then, are you sure you don't want to change into a more suitable outfit for training?" The Elder asked him. "It'll make it easier to learn and move around."

"Hmph, I'm fine this way." Shirou declined his offer. "When you fight on the street, the other guys won't just let you change into something more comfortable. So I'll train like this so I can fight at any time in any gear."

"My, what an interesting philosophy." The Elder said a little intrigued while stroking his beard.

"The punk's right though." Sakaki added. "Having the luxury of being able to wear the right gear is something only a sportsmen Martial Artist would be used to, in a real fight you gotta be ready to fight at any time."

"Well, Shirou is pretty used to street-fighting already, so it shouldn't be too bad." Miu added.

Back to the training, Shirou raised his stance while the tanned giant looked relaxed.

"Apa, we begin. Apachai is going to start with a right punch." Apachai informed him. "Shirou must block."

"Go ahead." Shirou raised his arms above his face and used them to form a cross.

_"A cross-arm block."_ Miu noticed. _"It's a stance that stresses pure defence against a frontal attack. Good, he's taking Apachai seriously."_

Ready to begin Apachai's eyes started to glow like before and his arm lashed out like a transparent blur that couldn't be seen by an ordinary man. Before a second had pasted it reached Shirou and blew away his guard like a kickball hitting a sandcastle.

"APA!"

CRASH!

The force behind Apachai's punch was like that of an iron wrecking ball which Shirou found out firsthand as the hit knocked him off the ground and blew him away, crashing hard into the stone wall behind him, the force behind the crash was strong enough to even create a few cracks in the wall and Shirou hit the ground in a thud. Seeing that Miu let out a shriek of fear and run to him to see if he was alive.

While the Masters just looked, intrigued.

"You… saw that… right?" Shigure asked the rest of them.

Kensei nodded. "To the untrained eye it just looked like Apachai tore down his guard and sent him flying, but it was more than that." He dissected. "Just before the point of impact he back-stepped to soften the blow and what's more amazing is that he could actually see the punch coming. Even though he's only training Apachai's punches are incredibly swift, for him to be able to follow their movement is a feat I didn't think someone his age was capable of."

"Not just that, it was his stance too." Sakaki added. "While his upper body was tightened for defence his lower body was more relaxed, he braced for impact and kept his legs light and nimble to he could roll with the punch instead of being crushed by it." He explained, almost impressed. "Apachai's punches are crazy strong, most people would freeze up if they saw it coming towards them, yet he took it without a flinch. Guess he's not just some punk."

"He has strong… Nerves." Shigure added.

Miu ran up to Shirou's body and kneed next to him."Shirou, are you still alive?" She asked worried, before turning to Apachai. "Apachai this was training, you're supposed to hold back?" She scolded.

"Hold back?" Apachai repeated confused as if he didn't understand.

"He did hold back." Shirou corrected, sitting up looking hardly damaged. "I saw him when I first arrived, if he had been fighting for real my arms would be broken. Though honestly that punch still packed a wallop."

"You're awake?" Miu gasped, amazed that he took a hit from Apachai and didn't get knocked out. "I can't believe you withstood that."

"Don't joke around, you actually thought I'd drop dead after one hit?" Shirou asked, standing up and looking pumped up. "Who the Hell do you think I am?!"

"Apa, let's go again." Apachai instructed him. "Apachai will use exact same punch."

"Bring it on big-guy." Shirou responded, ready to go again.

"Wait, it's dangerous to take so many of Apachai's punches head-on." Miu warned him.

"Just sit back and watch, babe." Shirou brushed off. "I'll show you something amazing."

Miu normally would be more concerned but was curious as to what he had planned and so remained silent. Also, she blushed from being called "babe".

Once again Shirou took the same cross-arm block, ready to begin Apachai's eyes began to glow again and his arm lashed out like a transparent blur that couldn't be seen by an ordinary man. Like before Apachai just as he said he would he threw a straight-right that was aiming for Shirou's head.

SWISH!

However, to the shock and disbelief of everyone watching (Not including Apachai and the Elder), Shirou waived his head to the side and slipped past Apachai's blow. Not only had Shirou avoided the hit he quick-stepped forward to dive in and get past Apachai defence.

"APA!"

POW!

Just as he got in close range, Shirou saw Apachai's left gloved fist flash out and deck him in the side. Like before Shirou could scarcely see the hit coming but knew he couldn't dodge in time and like before he loosed his footing to roll with the punch. This time Shirou was knocked away to the side and like a rock skipping across the water, he bounced off the ground three times before coming to a stop.

"He dodged that first punch?" Miu was in awe at what she just witnessed. "That's amazing."

"He's full of surprises." The Elder commented. "He saw that Apachai truly was using the same attack at the first to and so after seeing it the first time, he immediately thought up of a counter and moved his body fast enough to do so."

"But despite that, he wasn't able to anticipate the second strike and was once again knocked away." Kensei added. "Meaning while his eyes and mind are able to remain vigilant under pressure his body can't keep up."

"Still you gotta admit the punks good." Sakaki pointed out. "He just needed to see that punch once to be able to get past it, not just anybody can dodge one of Apachai's punches especially a kid. Give credit where it's due."

"I never said it wasn't impressive." Kensei clarified. "Don't put words in my mouth."

Shirou got up again, a little dazed but still capable of going on. "The second punch came at a perfect angle and timing, it's like he knew that I would dive in like that." He whispered.

"We go again, Apachai will do same thing as before." Apachai instructed him.

Shirou's eyes widened slightly in realization before he narrowed them and got in his stance. _"I see, now I get it."_

_"Has he finally realized the purpose of this training?"_ The Elder thought, watching him.

Once Shirou was in position, Apachai's once more charged in and threw a straight-right that was aiming for Shirou's head. And like before Shirou waived his head to the side and slipped past Apachai's punch. Followed by his quick-step forward to dive in and get past Apachai defence. Like before Apachai threw his left-hook aiming to counter him again, but this time Shirou was prepared.

SWISH!

This time instead of getting hit by the hook Shirou avoided it by ducking his body in a squat position. Afterwards, he quickly raised himself up back, planning to use the momentum to throw a powerful uppercut.

"APA!"

POW!

Unsurprising Shirou was countered yet again. This time Apachai used his left leg to knee him in the stomach as he was coming up. The force behind this hit knocked the air out of his lungs and sent him flying upwards in the air like a rag doll. He hit the ground a few feet away, dazed and coughing.

_"He did it again."_ Miu thought, not believing her eyes. _"How is he doing that?"_

_"I was right, this training is like one of those color pattern games. Between his arms and legs, he has four options on what to use in a specific pattern and every time I figure out the pattern a next one is created that is the exact same one as before while adding an extra one at the end."_ Shirou deduced. _"But unlike the game where the patterns keep coming without end, this will end either when I don't have the strength to go on or when I finally land a hit. Whichever comes first."_

_"Every time he fails he immediately sees what the problem was and fixes it. Meaning he's learning as he fights."_ The Elder thought, observing him. _"Apachai is using this exercise to continuously sharpen his perceptions and instincts step by step, increasing the difficulty little by little. He's testing the boy to see just how far he can go,"_

Shirou pulled himself up from the ground, looking a little shaky and moved back into position to continue.

"Is Shirou okay to continue?" Apachai asked, seeing his condition.

"Heh, don't think that's all it takes to keep me down." Shirou responded with a smirked. "I can take a hell of a lot more than you can dish out."

Apachai nodded and Shirou got into his stance to begin again. And so they continued this cycle for quite a bit more.

"APA!"

POW!

"APA!"

POW!

"APA!"

POW!

"APA!"

POW!

"APA!"

POW!

"APA!"

POW!

"APA!"

POW!

"APA!"

POW!

"APA!"

POW!

"APA!"

POW!

"APA!"

POW!

"APA!"

POW!

"APA!"

POW!

"APA!"

POW!

"APA!"

POW!

"APA!"

POW!

After going on for so long, Shirou was now a battered, beaten mess. His face was bruised, there was a trickle of blood leaking from his forehead, his arms and body had scrapes and bruises and his breathing was heavy. Yet he was still standing.

"How many hits was that?" Sakaki asked, not having counted.

"29 hits he's dodged." Kensei informed him. "This next time will be the 30th time they've gone over this."

"Will he… Survive another… Hit?" Shigure questioned.

"Don't be concerned, he's tenacious and tough as they come." The Elder assured her, before joking. "And even if he does drop dead, it'll be an amazing feat to take to his grave that he lasted against 30 of Apachai's hits."

Apachai charged in and threw a straight right, which Shirou dodged by waiving to the side and dived in through Apachai's guard. Apachai then threw a left hook to counter him but Shirou ducked down to avoid the hook then came up for an uppercut. Apachai saw this and brought up his knee to hit his stomach but Shirou back-stepped to dodge the knee. Shirou then through an overhead aimed at Apachai's head, but Apachai took advantage of his superior reach and used a high-kick aimed Shirou's head. Shirou having anticipated this bobbed his head around the kick and pivoted his leg to slide over to Apachai's unguarded right to kick him in the liver, but Apachai saw this and used a quick-shift to change his stance and used his leg to deflect Shirou's attack.

"Well now, looks like he's finally getting the hang on it." The Elder noticed. "His evasiveness has certainly improved and he's become more adept at thinking several steps ahead with every blow."

"This whole exchange is a situation of hit without being hit." Kensei added. "Because of the difference in power, he can't even afford to block so all he can do is constantly dodge until he sees a chance to strike. And a careless or halfhearted move will end in failure so he can only bide his time and wait for an opportunity to show itself."

"Not just that, if the hit is going to come at the exact same spot even an amateur could dodge it but Apachai is mixing in faints here and there to try and throw him off, he's conditioning the punk to be able to see through an enemies tricks and only move when he needs to." Sakaki chimed in. "Apachai wants the punk to able to go into a fight while being able to avoid taking a hit as much as possible, 'cause that a fundamental mindset to have in Muay Thai."

Among everyone watching, Miu was the only one who didn't understand what was going on. As she stared, watching the two exchange blows and Shirou keeping up with Apachai, all she could do is try to comprehend what was happening.

_"I don't understand it when they started he couldn't even follow Apachai's movements and yet now he's keeping up with him perfectly."_ Miu thought, not getting it. _"How did he improve so much over the course of this exchange?"_

As the exchange of blows and Technique continued, Shirou kept avoiding Apachai's attacks while counting his progress in his head.

Apachai aimed a low-kick at Shirou's right kneecap, which Shirou dodged by shifting to the left.

_"27."_

Apachai raised his left arm and brought down his elbow towards Shirou like a guillotine. Shirou jumped back a bit to get out of the elbow's path.

_"28."_

Apachai knelled down slightly and reeled back his right fist to throw a power uppercut at Shirou's chin with the weight of his entire torso behind it. Shirou tightened his footing and swayed his body back making the uppercut a few centimetres away from grazing him.

_"29."_

Now that Apachai was done going through all the hits he had used before he was now ready to use a new one. Using the momentum of his uppercut, Apachai shifted his weight and spun his whole body around to throw a roundhouse kick with his right leg.

Shirou's eyes widened when he saw it. An opening had finally presented itself, Apachai's entire body was being held up only by his left leg. Shirou quickly capitalized on that and dove in, ducking underneath Apachai's kick and slide kicking Apachai's left ankle. This made Apachai's leg slip back and messed up his balance, leaving his wide open.

_"Good he saw it, now he finally has a golden opportunity to strike."_ The Elder thought.

_"This timing."_ Shirou cocked back his fist. _"This angle."_ He planted his right foot on the ground to put his back into his punch. _"This position."_ And he finally threw his straight right aimed at Apachai's chin. _"It'll be perfect."_

WHOOSH!

However, just before his fist could make contact, quick as a flash Apachai vanished without a trace and Shirou punch only hit the air. Hardly able to comprehend what had just happened, Shirou instinctively turned his head around to look behind him. And just as his head was halfway around, he could make out a gloved fist that was about to make contact with his head, it was so close Shirou only saw a bright flash of red appear out of nowhere.

"APAAAAAAA!"

POW!

And just like that everything went dark for Shirou as the next blow immediately wiped out his consciousness. While unconscious his body was flung upwards like a rubber-ball and when he hit the ground it kicked up a cloud of dirt. Shirou just laid there not moving an inch and his eyes had lost all shine. Meanwhile, Apachai just stood there looking as though he had just realized what he had done and could only say.

"Oops."

Sakaki face-palmed. "That idiot, he got to carried away in the end and forgot to hold back."

"Apachai has always had trouble holding back, when training a Disciple you should always use less than 10% in a spar, unfortunately, Apachai always goes beyond that limit." Kensei explained while shaking his head. "This time he was lucky to be training someone who could still keep up to an extent, but in the end he allowed his impulses to take over and threw a real punch with real speed."

"It was because the boy created an opening himself rather than waiting for one." The Elder informed them. "Because he was in the perfect position to be countered Apachai's instincts took over and he forgot this was training. Muay Thai is engraved into his mind, so in a situation like that you can't help but forgive him for doing the only thing he knows how to do."

"Shirou!" Miu shouted in fear and concern, running up to him. She kneeled down in front of him and rested his head on her knees trying to see if he was okay. "He's still breathing, but these wounds are terrible, I should have stopped him." She said, regretful.

"I sorry." Apachai apologized, also concerned for Shirou's health.

"Now, now." Kensei approached them. "It's not your fault, he knew what he was getting into when they started." Kensei assured her. "Besides he's not so bad, nothing's broken after all. Just a few bruises here and there, just send him to my acupuncture clinic and I'll help dull the pain a bit."

"Apa, Apachai will carry him." Apachai offered, lifting him up. "Is way of apologizing."

"I'll go check on Kenichi and Akisame." Miu decided, walking off.

While Kensei and Apachai left to fix Shirou. The rest of them just stayed on the porch.

"Well, I guess that was the best he could hope for." Sakaki shrugged. "Still though, I'm impressed the punk lasted as long as he did. It's like he's some kind of monster prodigy or something. Kinda interested to see how far he'll go from here."

"Oh, in that case why not take him on as a Disciple then?" The Elder suggested.

Sakaki's eyes went wide at that suggestion and he immediately barked. "For the last time Old Man; I don't take Disciples!" He shouted before walking away, while grumbling.

"Ha, he just can't be honest with himself." The Elder joked.

Shigure then got up and started to walk away to.

"And what about you, Shigure?" The Elder asked her, making her halt. "What do you think of the boy?"

"…He's… Interesting."

Was all she said before she was gone.

_"Hmm, I couldn't agree more."_ The Elder thought, stroking his beard.

* * *

30 minutes later. Akisame had just finished with Kenichi's training session and was now standing in front of the porch by the house where the Masters live in that was beside the dojo, while Kenichi was laying on the porch exhausted. Akisame was about to walk away.

"Well, since it's the first day I decided to take it easy on you." Akisame informed him, before turning to face him. "Today was light, but tomorrow's a different story so get plenty of rest, as soon as the sun comes up we begin your real training." He warned him before walking away.

Contrary to everything he just said, Kenichi was a mess. He was flat on his back, battered and worn-out, a withering husk that couldn't move without feeling sore in whatever little muscle he had and for whatever reason he had a tire tracks on his torso. All the while his mouth was wide open and he was resting in a puddle of sweat and his head was in a puddle of drool and tears.

_"He calls that light?"_ Kenichi cried out in his head, too exhausted to speak.

A little while later Kenichi was leaving the dojo grounds, struggling to walk straight.

"He treats me worse than any bully I've come across." Kenichi complained distraughtly. "I'm gonna quit, I'm definitely going to quit." He told himself while walking to the gate on shaky legs, sometimes losing his footing.

However, just as he reached the gate, Miu came up to him after she had just finished sweeping the ground with a broom. "Hi Kenichi." She addressed him while leaning forward and having a cutesy expression on her face. "It must be difficult, but give it your best to train hard tomorrow too."

Seeing her face immediately changed Kenichi's expression and he melted over her like a lovesick puppy. Instead of responding he just gave her a smile and a thumbs-up, to which she returned. _"I'll stick with this a bit longer."_ He thought, being fickle. He was about to leave again until Kenichi remembered something.

"Oh that's right, do you know where Shirou is?" Kenichi asked, concerned. "Is he finished with his training?"

Miu looked a little down upon his question. "Well, he did but, he lost consciousness at the end."

_"He lost consciousness? Someone like Shirou was knocked out by they're training?"_ Kenichi thought, flabbergasted. As if the idea was unthinkable to even imagine. _"What kind of insane, inhumane training did they give him? All I know is it must have been as hard as than mine."_

"Oh, you're done too."

A familiar voice suddenly spoke out. When Kenichi and Miu turned around, they were surprised to see the still beaten, bruised and wounded Shirou walking up to them, not looking bothered by his injuries.

Kenichi was dumbstruck to see him like that and was about to say something when someone else beat him to it.

"Shirou!" Miu ran up to him concerned. "Is okay for you to be up already?"

"Relax, I'm fine." Shirou shrugged, while Miu was in front of him. "Thanks to Kensei's acupuncture, the pain is dulled down for now, I'll probably be asleep when it wears off and I've always been a fast healer so the bruises will be gone before long as well."

"Thank goodness, I was really worried when you stopped moving before." Miu told him, relieved, before looking at him with a gentle expression. "I want you to know I thought you were amazing back there, you're a much better fighter than I expected."

"That's because you hardly know me." Shirou responded, nonchalant. "I'm full of surprises."

"Yeah, I know." Miu nodded, still smiling and placed a hand on his cheek. "I hope you get better soon because I…" She paused, looking a bit nervous. "I really hope we can train together sometime."

"That actually sounds pretty good." Shirou said, accepting her offer.

Meanwhile, Kenichi was watching this entire exchange between the two of them and had comical tears streaming down his eyes and a frustrated expression.

_"Are you kidding?! All I get is a 'give it your best' and he gets all that! It's not fair!"_ He whined in his thoughts. Until he took another look at Shirou's injuries. _"But then again… Considering the rough state he's in I guess I can't be too upset. What the heck did he do?"_

Suddenly Kenichi felt the presence of someone else behind him and turned around to see that Apachai was there. He had a smile on his face and was holding a medium-sized wooden stick.

"Apachai doesn't have much skill, but I made you this, Apa." Apachai gave Kenichi the stick to be used as a walking stick.

Kenichi gasped when he heard that. After which he and Shirou walked out the gate and were leaving while Miu and Apachai were waving goodbye. All the while Shirou was walking and Kenichi was using the stick to help himself walk.

* * *

_"He… He made this especially for me…"_ Kenichi thought of Apachai, with gratitude. _"What a great guy… Should I have chosen him as my Master instead?"_

"So, what did you do with Akisame?" Shirou brought up.

Though part of wished he didn't ask that because after saying those words, Kenichi had the face of someone who just finished getting drunk after being fired.

"It was torture! He made him do all sorts of crazy things and kept calling it training! It felt like my body was being torn apart!" Kenichi whaled loudly and desperately. "And when it was over he made me run all the way to Solamigaoka Park, while he tied a tire to my back and sat on it as he kept whipping meeeee!"

"Wait, Solamigaoka Park?" Shirou repeated, surprised. "That's on the other side of town."

"That's what I said!" Kenichi responded before he almost tripped. "Ow, it hurts just to move."

"Well, at least you have a walking stick." Shirou lazily consoled.

"Yeah, I'm glad Apachai made it for me." Kenichi agreed thankful. "He's nicer than I thought he would be, maybe I should've trained with him?"

"I seriously doubt that."

"How come?"

"Because Apachai was the one who gave me these."

Shirou pointed to all his injuries, which made Kenichi cry out in shock.

"Eeehhhhh!"

"Why are you shocked when you saw me go to train with Apachai!?" Shirou snapped

"Well I, I thought you trained with him for a bit then moved on to one of the others and the damaged built up after a while." Kenichi explained, nervously.

"Not a bad guess, unfortunately that wasn't the case." Shirou informed him. "All this was from Apachai teaching me how to dodge, and if I couldn't dodge I took a hit."

"Gaaahh! Does this mean every Master in that dojo is as crazy as Akisame-Sensei?" Kenichi wallowed at the idea.

"Not exactly." Shirou assured him. "While I was training I could tell, Apachai was trying to make it easier for me by keeping it simple and tried to hold back, he's just bad at holding back in general, but he didn't mean to knock me out, in fact he apologized about it after I woke up." He explained. "So Apachai is a gentle giant who's bad at controlling himself, while Akisame is fully capable of controlling himself but gives others the hardest training imaginable willingly."

"So he's just a sadist then." Kenichi deduced. "I wonder if I'll be okay."

"Still though, Apachai wasn't just strong and fast, his skill and Technique were flawless." Shirou pondered on it. "Even in Thailand I never met anyone that good."

"Yeah…" Kenichi agreed, before zoning in on the main thing he said. "Wait, you've been to Thailand?!"

"My family stayed there for a short period, but that's a story for another time." Shirou told him.

Kenichi was still curious but accepted his response.

_"The more I think back on it, the more amazed I am."_ Shirou thought. _"If it wasn't for Dad's training there's no way I would've lasted that long and even then Apachai was using kid gloves against me. His punches were both heavy and sharp, like upon contact they were piercing through chunks of my body. And his kicks felt like iron hammers. Not mention his speed made it feel like they were coming in every direction."_ He then smirked with satisfaction. _"If all the others are like this, then I made the right choice joining that dojo."_

* * *

Around the same time Kenichi and Shirou left, Akisame was walking along the porch and approached Kensei.

"So how was your training with Kenichi?" Kensei brought.

"As well as you could expect." Akisame answered him.

"I see, well hopefully he'll improve over time." Kensei believed. "Assuming you don't break him with your Spartan-like training."

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." Akisame retorted sarcastically. "Aside from that, I heard about what happened during Shirou's training."

Kensei nodded now serious. "It was something to behold."

"When I first saw him I could already he was a capable Martial Artist for someone his age, but the one thing I couldn't grasp was his potential." Akisame said, also serious. "Only one other individual was ever like that."

"I know, I remember it as well." Kensei agreed.

"It's actually a bit different." A voice suddenly spoke.

The Elder came out from behind them and joined the conversation.

"The boy was impressive yes, but I saw something more." The Elder brought up. "It isn't as though he hasn't reached his true potential but rather, his fangs have become dull."

"Dull?" Kensei repeated confused. "What do you mean?"

"From what I can tell his talent and abilities are not inferior to Miu's but his training was completely different. He must have trained with many different teachers who introduced him to different disciplines. By doing so he became a Martial Artist that has a wide array of styles and skills." The Elder explained. "However, he never had something essential to complete his growth. That was fighting against real opponents who could push him to his limits and help him surpass them."

"I get it, he's received adequate training and his skills have been honed but unfortunately he's never had the opportunity to use them in a real situation and training can only go so far." Akisame deduced. "He's basically a Sword that's been masterfully crafted but never take out of its sheath."

"That's right. While training Miu when she was a child I made sure to let her fight whenever she could, that's what made her the fighter she is today." The Elder continued. "Without anyone to fight he was never truly pushed to his limits and learned to go beyond them and so he never had the chance to actually sharpen his fangs."

"But tonight was different, even though it was only sparring, facing against an opponent of Apachai's calibre was more than enough to draw out his hidden potential, little by little he started to show his true abilities." Kensei added. "Meaning he currently a bud that's only beginning to bloom."

"And that's what I plan to have his training be based on while he's here in Ryozanpaku. I want to completely draw out his hidden potential and help him realize his true strength. Both him and young Kenichi have an interesting air around them and I want to see them both reach their peak."

"Leaving Kenichi aside, are you sure it's wise to have Shirou's abilities grow so quickly?" Kensei asked concerned. "This might sound biased but he shares more than a few similarities with our last Disciple."

"I agree with Kensei." Akisame added. "Shirou is a genius when it comes to fighting and he's very in tune with his instincts, he already seems like a great fighter that any Master would want to train, just like Ogata Ishinsai when we first took him in, and he ended up taking a dark path. I rather not let that happen again."

"Trust me, there's no need to worry about that." The Elder assured them. "Unlike Ogata, I don't feel any hidden darkness in Shirou, rather all I see is a boy who simply loves recklessly challenging strong opponents and pushing himself for the sheer fun of fighting." He smiled, looking up at the moon. "And one day before long, when his hidden potential fully blooms, it'll be the birth of an incredible Martial Artist."

* * *

**And that's the chapter. Like I said this chapter was basically introductions for the residents of Ryozanpaku and having Kenichi and Shirou meet all of them. As you saw Shirou was able to see just how amazing all of them were and in turn, they saw that Shirou in a diamond in the rough that needs to be polished. And so Shirou will become a Disciple along with Kenichi. However, I plan on making Shirou's training more relevant in this story compared the Kenichi's in the canon, like showing he's making improve instead of always getting trashed in training. **

**And As you saw Shirou's long term goal is to become as strong as he can be to fulfil the promise he made with his childhood friend. For me when I saw that part of the series I hated that, for Ryuto the promise meant so much to him but Kenichi hardly cared about it at all and in the beginning, he even forgot about it. So I changed it to Shirou's promise to give it greater value. **

**Finally, we learn that Shirou's full potential has yet to be realized, that what the main focus of his training will be in the beginning. Through fight after fight, he'll keep growing stronger and keep getting closer to bring out his hidden power. I figured if he had any problem it's that his training but a leash on his power because he lacked actual combat experience against an equal, which is something a that can actually lessen your capabilities. **

**Anyways thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, if you want more leave a review, if you liked the story click the follow/favourite, and as always have an awesome day.**


	3. Bringing Down A Bully

**Hey everyone and get ready for this chapter. This chapter will mainly deal with wrapping up Kenichi's issue with the Karate club. It'll be cover to parts, the preparation for the fight and then the fight itself. I'll be putting more detail into the training so he'll be more ready for it and the fight itself will be slightly different. Hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fan-based parody, History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi is owned by Funimation and Syun Matsuena, Please support the official release.**

* * *

"Shirou" Regular speech.

_"Shirou"_ Thoughts.

**_SEIKUKEN_** Attack names.

_(Shirou)_ Words said previously.

[Shirou] Words said in unison.

* * *

**Bringing Down A Bully**

* * *

It was night time in Koryuu City as the sky was black and the only source of light were the moon and stars in the sky and the streetlights on the ground. In the suburban area where Shirou's house was located, through the windows it could be seen that the lights were still on, meaning someone was still inside and awake.

Inside the house—In the living room, Haruto Tsukiharu was currently sitting on the couch in front of the TV. He was currently watching a movie and enjoying a night of carefree lazing. Suddenly though, from the front door he could hear the door opening and someone walking inside, already knowing who it was he got up and went over to the door.

"I'm back." Shirou announced, walking in.

"Hey, welcome b—" Haruto cut off his sentence and paused.

All the boy could do was look at his older Brother in surprise, surprise that came from seeing the state he was in. Shirou was covered in bruises and his outfit was all ruffled. He looked as though he was hit multiple times by a hard-blunt object, without protection. Which considering where he had just come from, that wasn't exactly inaccurate.

"I know; it's not a pretty sight." Shirou said, being able to guess what Haruto was thinking based on his expression.

"Yeah…. What happened to you?" Haruto asked, now curious.

"Ha, oh boy where do I begin?" Shirou looked amused as he walked past him.

Later, they were both in the dining room sitting on different seats at the table. As they both got a drink and sat down, Shirou explained the events of what happened earlier on this same night. He began about Ryozanpaku, about the nature of the dojo, about Miu and all the Masters, their training and what Shirou personally thought was the most important part; how strong they were.

"That's crazy." Haruto responded, not knowing a better way to put it. "There are that many powerful Martial Arts Masters, it just so happens that none of them use the same style and they all somehow live under the same roof."

"I agree." Shirou said, taking a sip of his drink. "I had trouble wrapping my head around at first too and I was there."

"From what you told me about this Apachai person that you trained with and the one named Akisame that trained Kenichi, I'm guessing that the Masters of Ryozanpaku are capable Martial Artists, but incapable teachers." Haruto deduced. "Sounds like they take whatever Disciple they can get and make them go through a Spartan-like training regimen, hoping it will create positive results."

"Sounds about right." Shirou confirmed his thoughts. "Unlike the more standard practice on training a Disciple where you first see their level of skill and start from that level of training, they just jump into the expert-level. And unlike Apachai who can't hold back, I'm betting the others could but just don't want to."

"Well, I'm pretty sure you can handle that kind of training, the real problem is Kenichi." Haruto pointed out. "He has the backbone of a jellyfish. Even if it's so he can beat his bully, he's the kind of person who gives up immediately after things get hard."

"True, but I'm pretty confident he'll come again tomorrow." Shirou said though he didn't sound like he was praising him. "For no other reason than to spend more time gawking at Miu."

"Really?" Haruto asked, confused. "I know I haven't seen her, but is she really attractive enough to motivate him that much?"

"If it was the Miu from School, then probably not." Shirou admitted. "But at the dojo, she looks completely different. She lets her hair down, loses the glasses, and is dressed completely different."

"How different?" Haruto asked, curious.

"She wears nothing but a purple, spandex jumpsuit that fits her like a second layer of skin." Shirou let out a sigh. "It basically shows off all her curves and puts an emphasis on her already huge rack."

Then Haruto let out a sigh. "Somehow, Kenichi only ever acts like a man in the most unless situations, his desires in particular." He noted.

"Yeah, moving on." Shirou changed the subject. "Despite their personalities or lifestyle, those Masters are the real deal. If I can successfully train with all of them and then move on to train with the Elder, I dare say I'd be unrivaled."

"But you're already unrivaled." Haruto reminded him.

"That's only in this stupid town." Shirou clarified. "I'm talking about being unrivaled on an international scale."

"Whoa, are you serious?" Haruto questioned. If someone else were to have made such a claim, he'd of thought they were just being full of it. But coming from the words of his Brother, he could actually picture it being possible. Thus he asked. "I need to ask though, between the Masters of Ryozanpaku and Dad, who do you think is stronger?"

"If we're talking one on one, I'd say the Old Man is at least a level or two above each of them." Shirou claimed, before looking up. "But the Elder is a different story, all I had to do was meet him and I could already tell he was crazy strong. Hate to say it but I don't think I can picture him losing to the Old Man."

"Then the Elder must be some kind of monster." Haruto noted, a little overwhelmed."

"They're all monsters." Shirou reminded him, before standing up from his seat. "And starting from today I'm going to be training under them."

"Hey, Brother." Haruto spoke, with a knowing smile. "You're excited about this, aren't you?"

Shirou didn't face him but had a smirk. "I'm about to enter a den of monsters in order to become one myself, of course, I'm enjoying this." He answered.

After which he left to head for his room, calling it a day.

* * *

Two days after that night. It was after School had let out and both Shirou along with Kenichi made their way back to Ryozanpaku. Right now it was the afternoon and once again, Kenichi was undergoing training from Akisame. And by that I mean he's being put through hellish training by a sadistic Akisame.

"YOUR HEAD IS TOO HIGH!" Akisame roared so loud he could be heard from outside the gate.

The current training was Kenichi in a judo gi, without the shirt, practicing basic stepping movements. Akisame had Kenichi hold up a large jar of Sake in each hand, while he shuffled his feet passed small wooden logs that were half-buried into the ground that were close to each other. And Akisame himself was standing beside him, while holding a bamboo-stick which was meant to be a cane, and he was perfectly willing to use it.

"Keep your hips down low!" Akisame ordered him, as Kenichi struggle to move forward. "Much better, now shuffle your feet quickly and move between the posts." He instructed him, swinging the cane past the top of Kenichi's head.

"Grr, how much longer do I have to keep doing this!?" Kenichi struggled to complain. "It's been nothing but muscle training for two days straight, enough's enough! When are you gonna start teaching me Jujitsu?"

"Regardless of what you might think, building your strength is the key." Akisame told him. "No matter how skilled or trained he might be, an ant can't defeat an elephant, can he?"

"What a minute, are you comparing me to an ant?" Kenichi asked.

"Perhaps that was insensitive, that analogy is unfair." Akisame said, somewhat regretful before he smiled. "…To the ant."

"Now you're just making fun of me!" Kenichi whined, now fed up. "I wanna quit you here me! I've had enough!"

"Kenichi listen, despite its meager size an ant has the power to items several times its own weight. There is much you can learn from an ant." Akisame recited a philosophy, which silenced Kenichi.

He then sat up and responded, timidly. "Um, I know I'm kinda small and I'm not the Strongest guy around, but I'm willing to learn if you'll tell me what's next." He finished, looking up at him.

Akisame chuckled and said. "Well, let's take a little break."

Kenichi sighed, with relief.

.

.

.

"Alright now get back to work!" Akisame barked after a few seconds.

Sitting on the porch was the Elder; Hayato and Apachai. The two of them were watching over the training that was going on right now.

Hayato laughed, feeling pleasant. "It was a great idea to pick Akisame as his first instructor, he's giving him excellent guidance."

"He has Disciple, lucky." Apachai pouted, envious.

"Oh, why aren't you training with Shirou today?" Hayato asked him.

"Is not Apachai's turn today, Apa." Apachai answered, feeling bored.

Kenichi heard them and brought up a question. "Speaking of Shirou; where is he? I haven't seen him since we started training."

Akisame laughed for a bit. "Oh, that? Since right now is my shift in training him, I had him do some light roadwork so he could warm himself up before we began."

As if by some universal cue. A tired, heavily breathing Shirou walked up to them. His shirt wrapped around his waist and his whole body covered in sweat. He looked like someone who had just run a marathon and was gasping for air, trying to catch his breath.

"_Huff_… _Huff_… I'm back." He said, through his shallow breathing.

"Ah, welcome back." Akisame greeted him. "I'm impressed, you finished that exercise about three times faster than Kenichi."

"Faster than me?" Kenichi thought for a second, before realizing. "Wait! You didn't make him do the same long-distance running I did you?"

"Of course not." Akisame denied as if the idea was ridiculous. "I made him alternate between running and sprinting while tying tires to his legs." He corrected. "To compensate me not being there to whip him in case he slowed down."

"That's even worse!" Kenichi shouted.

"_Huff_… It took all the willpower I had to not just say 'Screw it' and go home… _Wheeze_." Shirou told them, through his cough.

"Well, I'm glad your will persevered." Akisame said, looking glad. "Now we can move on to the real training."

"_Why_ not? I'd rather not have all that running be for nothing." Shirou replied, not in the mood to argue right now.

* * *

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Kenichi's pain-filled bellow was a sign of the next phase of their training. Right now Kenichi's legs were forcibly placed in a split position by Apachai, who was sitting in front of him while also holding his arms to pull his upper body forward. While Akisame, Hayato, and Kensei were standing beside them.

"Moving on." Akisame started. "You will now begin training your lower body to be more flexible."

"Is fun, yes?" Apachai asked, pleasantly enjoying himself.

"I think I heard my thigh break!" Kenichi cried out in agony.

"Hmm, maybe I should teach him a few pointers myself." Kensei suggested.

"Augh! I really don't think my body was designed to twist like this!"

"Hang on Kensei, isn't it now your shift on Shirou's training?" Akisame questioned him. "Where is he?"

"Well, as it turns out he can already do a split." Kensei confessed to them. "So instead I had him go to a training post a told him to kick it 100 times without a break."

"Ah, endurance training to condition his legs, great idea." Akisame praised him.

Hayato started to chuckled. "You know two are very fortunate to have such amazing resources at your disposal." He told Kenichi. "Even a King would be lucky to have so many Masters."

_"You call this lucky?!"_ Kenichi thought to himself frustrated, before crying out in pain once again. "AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

"Get real, geezer." Shirou scoffed, walking up to them. "Any King who can't find good resources without luck is a third-string King at best."

"Haha, that's quite harsh." Hayato joked at his comment.

"Shirou?" Kenichi looked up to see him.

"And you." He addressed Kenichi. "Quit screaming like a pregnant rhino already, I can hear all the way on the other side of the dojo."

"You try doing this without feeling pain!" Kenichi snapped at him.

"Whatever." Shirou brushed it off and turned to Kensei. "I finished your stupid kicking workout, now give me some better training."

_"That's how he talks to his Master?"_ Kensei thought, dumbstruck. "Fine then, first I'll gauge your current ability in Kenpo and we'll go from them."

Before they could walk off, however, Kenichi called out to them after releasing himself from Apachai.

"Hold on a second, how come Shirou gets to learn techniques while I'm only allowed to do strength training?" Kenichi asked, not liking the current situation.

"Didn't I already tell you, building your strength is key." Akisame reminded him. "Unlike you, Shirou already has the basic training and necessary physical build under his belt, that's why he's moved on to that level of his training while you're still preparing yourself." He explained. "It's like they say; No matter how great the constructor, a building must always follow the necessary steps in order to—"

"Would you give the philosophical Mumbo Jumbo a rest already!" Shirou cut him off, annoyed.

_"…Well, that was hurtful."_ Akisame thought.

"Look, Kenichi." Shirou started. "Before you ask them to teach you some techniques, answer me this; The way you are right now what do you think would happen if you fought Daimonji?" He asked him, seriously.

"Well, obviously I'd be killed." Kenichi said, not doubting it for a second. "That's the reason I came here in the first place."

"Yet you completely missed the point." Shirou informed him. "Even if they teach you techniques it wouldn't do any good, because you're missing something that's just as important."

"I'm missing something?" Kenichi repeated, confused. "What's that?"

Before answering, Shirou grabbed Kenichi by the forearm and lifted him to his feet so he could look him in the eye. "Power!" He answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Even with all the technique in the world, without power, your hits won't do a thing. And right now, no matter how many times you hit, your fists would just bounce of Daimonji like a Bantamweight trying to take out a Heavyweight."

"Gaahhhhh!" Kenichi looked as though all the color had drained from his face. "Then what should I do?"

"You know the answer, build up power with more training." Shirou told him. "Martial Arts isn't something you can just pick up and expect to get immediate results. Plus without any talent, you already have to work twice as hard as the rest of us, you don't have to luxury waste time whining about it."

Shirou then started walking away, yet Kenichi still protested. "You make it sound so easy! I'm already pushing myself to the brink, I can barely make a fist with how much pain I'm in!"

"Really, yet you have the energy to stand up and complain." Shirou pointed out. He stopping walking to speak but didn't turn around. "You look fine to me, or do you not want to get stronger? Do you not want to win?"

After asking him that he continued walking away, not wanting to hear an answer. Though Kenichi really thought about his words and to another look at himself, noticing he stopped panting and was standing up, perfectly stable.

_"He's right, no matter how much I complain it won't change the fact that I have to work harder."_ Kenichi thought, more determined. _"I need to get as strong as possible otherwise I won't stand a chance against Daimonji, I can't afford to waste time."_

Noticing his expression changed to a more fired up one, the Masters looked satisfied. Until Akisame spoke out.

"Hold on, isn't that more or less what I said a moment ago?" Akisame pointed out.

"There's quite a big difference though." Hayato pointed out. "Young Kenichi has known Shirou much longer than any of us and because of that, he takes the words of his friend to heart. Sometimes all it takes are the right words from the right person to light a fire in you."

"I suppose that's fair." Akisame admitted, in good spirits.

"And it probably helped that he didn't call him lower than an ant." Kensei added, amused.

"You think so?" Akisame pondered, not having considered that.

* * *

Another day had passed by right now, Miu had just finished club practice after school and was on her way to the dojo. She was currently walking past a street near a suburban area that was near a stream of water. A few steps in front of her were none other than Daimonji, along with two other goons from the Karate club, who were walking in the same direction. As Miu ran past them, she heard them having a conversation.

"So tell us the plan, Daimonji." One of the goons said. "Are you really going to fight him?"

"You might wanna take it easy on the kid, you'll break those weak knees if you're not careful." The other goons advised him.

Miu quickly hid from their sight to eavesdrop on their conversation. As they continued walking, Daimonji told them.

"Taking it easy ain't my style. We can't have a weakling like him hanging around, the Koryuu Karate club has a rep and I'm going to keep it." Daimonji said, confidently looking up. "Shirahama's a dead man, I'm going to beat that little twerp into a pulp and use him as an example to make sure no other weaklings like him ever step foot inside our dojo again."

"Sounds like a plan to me." The first goon said, onboard with the idea.

"You know that little weakling hasn't shown his face around here lately, right?" The second goon noted.

"Yeah, he's probably at home, hiding under his bed and waiting for his life to end." The first goon joked.

The three of them laughed as they walked out of sight, Miu who was hiding by going over the sidewalk and using her hand to hang at the edge, just above the water stream, heard their conversation and felt worried. Once they were gone, she used her arm to pull her body back up, balanced herself with her arm which kept her body upside-down, and then positioned herself right-side-up back on the sidewalk.

"I've got to do something to help Kenichi." Miu said feeling urgent.

"And _how_ exactly are you planning to help him?"

Miu jumped a bit, startled when she heard a familiar voice. When she turned around, she saw that Shirou was behind her.

"Shirou? Where'd you come from?" Miu asked, surprised that she didn't notice him.

"I take this route to." Shirou told her. "That aside, next time you might want to find a different hiding spot." He suggested. "Unless you want people to see what's under your skirt."

Miu blinked, confused by what he said. But then remembered that just a moment ago when she was upside down for a few seconds, it made her skirt fall down as well, thus giving anyone nearby a perfect view of her undergarments. "Ah!" Realizing that, she let out an embarrassed shriek, blushed again, and pulled on the hem of her skirt.

"Gee, we've only known each other for less than a week and yet, that's the third time I've seen your underwear." Shirou pointed out, with minimal care. "At this rate, someone might think it's deliberate."

"I didn't know you were there!" Miu cried out embarrassed. "I thought no one was around."

"That's because you were so focused on those goons in front of you that you didn't notice what was behind you." Shirou informed her.

"Huh? Wait so, you heard them too?" Miu asked, now calmer.

"Yeah, that guy in front was Daimonji." Shirou told her. "Kenichi's bully."

"We have to do something." Miu insisted with urgency. "At the rate, he's going, Kenichi won't be strong enough to beat that guy in time for their match."

"That's obvious, but what do you plan to do?" Shirou questioned her. "Even if you want to help, it's not like there's a method to make him stronger in an instant."

"Maybe, but if I teach him some techniques, he might have a better chance." Miu suggested, thinking it was a good idea.

"Are you forgetting Kenichi's complete lack of finesse?" Shirou asked her, with half-lidded eyes. "What technique could you possibly teach him in the span of a few days that could help him win his fight?"

After being reminded of that fact, Miu became silent as if her whole plan just went out the window.

"Um… Maybe I could help him improve his defense." Miu suggested, less confident.

Shirou turned to walk away. "Do whatever you think will help. Just keep your expectations at a realistic height."

As she saw him leave, Miu pondered on his words. _"Realistic? I wonder what that means?"_

* * *

Later that day, when night fell and another training session at Ryozanpaku was over, Kenichi was carrying himself home in pain, while needing a walking stick to stand up straight yet again. Right now he was dragging himself past Kirigakure Park.

"It's a miracle that I didn't die today." Kenichi quietly moaned.

"Hey, Kenichi." Miu greeted him, appearing in front of his path.

"Miu, what's up?" Kenichi responded, surprised to see her.

"I'm glad I caught you, there a couple of things I wanted to show you."

That made him more enthusiastic.

"What?! Are you going to teach me some cool fighting moves or something?!"

"Well, sort of. But it's more like a way of walking." She explained as she removed her uniform blazer and glasses. "It's called the stepping method. I want you to watch me while I do it first."

She starts by taking a stance, Miu first pivots her right foot making it slid in wither her left. Then with a swift motion, she pivots her right foot away from her left, thus turning her body in the other direction.

"See that? When the toes come together, its called Koh-Ho, and when they pivot out its called Hih-Ho." She demonstrated.

Kenichi just looked dumbfounded, not seeing the point. "Uh… Okayyy?"

"You know, it might be easier if I just let you try it." Miu suggested, now smiling. "Here's what while do; This might seem weird, but I want you to attack me."

Kenichi gasped as if he couldn't believe what he just heard. He then stood up straight and said.

"I won't do it!" He rejected without a thought. "If you think I'm the kind of guy that would hit a girl then you're nuts. Forget it."

A small bead of sweat drop from the back of Miu's head when she heard his claim and she thought. _"You only act like a man during useless situations…"_

"All I really want you to do is try and touch me." She said out loud, rephrasing it.

Kenichi gasped again, this time for a completely different reason.

"Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-What?! You want me to t-touch you?!" Kenichi cried out, blushing and hysterically waving his arms around.

"Yeah, just come at me and I'll teach you a trick." Miu told him, not worried.

"So I can really touch you?" Kenichi's expression changed into one that looked really excited, his eyes were sparkling and his fingers were wriggling like he was trying to grab something. "Anywhere I wannnt?"

"Right.…" Miu answered, now feeling nervous. _"I don't like the way his hands are moving right now…"_

* * *

A few feet outside the park, Haruto was walking down the sidewalk with a shopping bag in hand. He was on the way home and was enjoying the serenity of the quiet night atmosphere.

Haruto let out a calm sigh. "There's just something about walking in silence that makes me feel relaxed."

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

"And it's over." Haruto said to himself, his calmness deflating with annoyance. However, a sudden thought occurred to him. "Wait a second, don't I know that girlish-shriek for somewhere?"

Looking over towards the park, Haruto is able to figure out where the noise came from. He runs over to the entrance and sees two people there, currently engaged in a strange-looking activity. One of them he recognized, the other he didn't.

"I was right, it is Kenichi?" Haruto whispered to himself, watching them from afar. "And that girl…" He looked over her features and remembered a previous conversation. "Blonde hair and big boobs, she must be the Miu girl that Brother was talking about."

As he looks on, Haruto sees a pattern of Kenichi rushing in looking as though he is attempting to grope Miu, while Miu dodges and knocks him to the ground. Then Miu kneels down to explain to him the basics of the stepping method and tells Kenichi to try it himself.

_"Hmm, at first glance it just looked like sexual harassment. But she's really trying to teach him something."_ Haruto thought, before turning to leave. _"I should probably ask Brother about this."_ After that thought, he left to go home.

* * *

"You saw Miu with Kenichi?" Shirou asked.

After Haruto had returned to the house he and Shirou lived in, he saw that Shirou was already home as well, which was fortunate because Haruto didn't have to wait to tell him what he wanted to talk about. He informed Shirou on what he had witnessed back at the park a few moments ago.

"Yeah, it looked like she was training him." Haruto continued. "More specifically, she was teaching him so kind of technique called the stepping method."

"The stepping method?" Shirou repeated, thinking it over. "I get it, she said she was going to teach him a defensive technique and so she chose one that was good for dodging, something he'll need."

"Hmm, what are you talking about?" Haruto asked, not following him.

"Oh, right I didn't tell you." Shirou remembered before he explained. "Kenichi's fight is only a few days away, but he's still nowhere near ready, so Miu wanted to help him out by teaching him a move that'll give him a better chance."

"By what exactly does he stepping method do?" Haruto asked. "Unfortunately I didn't learn as much about Martial Arts from Dad as you did."

"It's a continuous pivot-step movement where you balance your knees and legs to transition from one move to the next almost simultaneously. Basically you just let your opponent close in, then do a quick to dodge and get in their blind spot, a pretty simple technique." Shirou explained.

"While I can see how that move can be helpful, how are you supposed to win a fight with just dodging?" Haruto questioned, confused.

"You can't." Shirou answered like it was obvious. "The stepping method is meant to be used as a chain-technique. You use it, then chain it to your next attack or counterattack."

"That's kind of weird then, Miu didn't mention that part." Haruto noted.

"What do you mean?" Shirou asked, now being the one who was confused.

"She didn't mention anything about attacking." Haruto clarified. "She just showed him the stepping method and told him to practice it before leaving."

"That idiot." Shirou grit his teeth. "Doesn't she have an ounce of common sense?"

"What's wrong?" Haruto asked, surprised by his change in demeanor.

"There's only one reason why Miu didn't teach him about shifting the stepping method into offense." Shirou told him. "It's because she expects him to figure it out himself."

Haruto's expression changed as he immediately understood what the problem was. "But Kenichi is as dense as a brick and his intuition for Martial Arts is nonexistent. He can't figure these things out unless you tell him straight out."

"Exactly, and I'm guessing must have Miu assumed 'since it was obvious to her, anybody should be able to figure it out' without considering the persons actually ability, meaning she must be pretty dense herself." Shirou noted.

"So are you going to tell him?" Haruto asked.

"I have to, otherwise he'll go into a fight without being able to fight." Shirou responded.

* * *

The next morning came and it was currently lunch break at Koryuu High School. Right now Shirou was on the roof with his back leaning against the metal fence and was waiting for someone to arrive. Before long the door opened and Kenichi walked in.

"Hey, Shirou." Kenichi greeted approaching him.

"I'll get straight to the point." Shirou said being quick about it. "You learned a new trick, didn't you?"

"Huh, yeah. Miu taught it to me, it's called the stepping method." Kenichi proclaimed both proud and excited, before asking. "How did you know?"

"Considering how everyone from our grade was talking about seeing someone who was walk-sliding and shuffling towards School this morning. I'd be weirder if I didn't know." Shirou told him drily. "Only you would do that."

Kenichi then looked sheepish and rubbed the back of his hair. "Ah well ha, Miu told me to practice as much as I could and so I…."

"Forget it." Shirou told him. "That's not what I wanted to talk about."

"Huh? Then what did you want to talk about?" Kenichi asked, now curious.

"I know what the stepping method is, but tell me something." Shirou said, talking a few steps to the side. "How do you plan on winning a fight if all you know is dodging?"

"Well…" Kenichi thought about if, before answering. "I think I'll dodge past Daimonji's attacks and then wait for my chance to strike."

Shirou just looked at him like he was an idiot. "Do you not remember a thing I told you the other day?"

"What do you mean?" Kenichi asked, not seeing the problem.

Shirou let out a tired sigh. "Fine, I guess the only way you'll get it is after a demonstration." He then stood in front of him. "Kenichi let's do a practice exercise. I'll attempt an attack on you and you use what you've learned against me."

"What? You mean right now?!" Kenichi asked, clearly nervous.

"Think of it as a way to prepare yourself against Daimonji." Shirou reasoned. "How will you know it'll work if you don't try it on someone first?"

"Well, I suppose that's a good point." Kenichi soon took a stance. "Okay, let's try it."

After taking a second to get ready, they began. Shirou charged forward and threw a telegraphed punch that lacked any finesses, perfect for dodging. Kenichi used that chance to move past it.

_"Koh-Ho!"_ Kenichi thought, pivoting his feet together. _"Hih-Ho!"_ He then pivoted them apart and slid past the punch, now at Shirou's unguarded right.

Now that he had the opportunity, Kenichi moved fast a threw a punch into Shirou's side and succeeded in landing the first blow. He looked both amazed and excited at his accomplishment. However, it only took a second from him to notice Shirou was fazed by his attack and another second for Shirou to turn, now facing him and threw a punch of his own at Kenichi. Stopping just an inch away from hitting him in the face.

"You get it now?" Shirou questioned him. "This is the exact same outcome that's going to happen during the fight."

"But how?" Kenichi uttered, confused. "I did it just like Miu taught me?"

"Miu didn't train you hard, she trained you stupid." Shirou informed him. "The stepping method is a technique used for setting up a counterattack, there are several techniques that can be used to attack despite not having strength, unfortunately, she never taught you any of those and so you only know how to dodge and since you lack power you have no means of attacking."

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" Kenichi screamed in horror at this new revelation, while falling on all fours. "Then what am I supposed to do?! There are only three days left until the match and that move is the only thing I've learned!"

"Yeah I have more bad news; you haven't exactly mastered that either. I telegraphed my punch to make it easier to dodge." Shirou corrected him. "Honestly I think anybody could have dodged it, Daimonji won't show the same mercy."

"I'M DEEAAAAAAADDDDDD!" Kenichi bellowed at the top of his lungs, feeling all hope was lost.

"Not yet you're not. Because I'm going to help you." Shirou told him, which immediately silenced Kenichi. "I told you there are techniques that can be used to attack without strength, I'm going to teach you one."

"Seriously!?" Kenichi quickly ran up to him, hope coming back to his expression. "Will that help me survive?!"

"That depends on you." Shirou responded. "One technique won't decide the outcome, so here's what we're going to do; from now until the match you're going to spend the day practicing the stepping method, after training at the dojo we'll head to my house and train you to get ready any way we can."

"B-But, what kind of training do you plan on giving me?" Kenichi asked before becoming fearful. "It's not going to be more strength training like what Akisame-Sensei, is it?"

"Relax loser." Shirou pushed him back a step. "We'll train by sparring, I'll show you the right moves and then you try them out, after that, we'll keep doing trial and error until you get to the point where you could do it reliably."

"Will that even work?" Kenichi asked, still nervous and unsure. "I mean we only have three days."

"It'll be fine, what I'm going to teach you is simple and won't take long to learn." Shirou assured him. "Even a Martial Arts mush-brain like you can do it."

_"Why does he always sneak an insult into these types of conversation?"_ Kenichi thought, feeling vexed.

* * *

Over the next three days, things followed a specific pattern. The day would start with Kenichi going to School whilst practicing the stepping method, the rest of the day would be ordinarily going to class and studying. After School, Shirou and Miu would accompany him to Ryozanpaku where he would be subjected to agonizing exercises in the name of strength training all the way till sundown. And finally, at night he would follow Shirou to his place of residence and learn step-by-step a way to beat Daimonji.

Before he knew it the three days had ended in no time at all. The day of the match had finally arrived. Once the School day had ended, Kenichi and Shirou stood outside the front door of the School's Karate dojo. Kenichi was in his Karate gi and Shirou in his normal clothes.

"The day has finally arrived." Shirou noted, turning to Kenichi. "You nervous?"

"N-not at all." Kenichi answered, though from the way his knees were shaking it was clear he was lying. "Or maybe a little."

"Well don't be." Shirou slapped him on the back. "Remember you've got me in your corner and you're more than ready to beat that muscle head."

Kenichi took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "I hope so."

"Listen, regardless of the outcome, this is going to be the last time you ever walk into that dojo as a member of that club." Shirou reminded him, before cracking a smirk. "So you might as well leave as a winner."

Kenichi processed his words and smiled. "You're right, what's the worst that could happen."

With his spirit renewed, Kenichi with Shirou at his side boldly entered the Karate club's dojo.

* * *

"Shirahama! You got some nerve showing your face in my club." Daimonji growled at him.

And with a giant like Daimonji towering over him, Kenichi's spirit crumpled like a piece of paper.

"Uh… W-Well we-we agreed we'd meet in a week for the match so I thought…" Kenichi nervously defended himself.

"You fool! This ain't a match it's a beating." Daimonji angrily corrected him. "Now say your prayers before I crush you."

"You can't say for sure that you'll beat me." Kenichi quietly retorted.

"Oh really?" Daimonji picked up a small bucket on the floor. "Since you don't seem to get it…" To make a point, Daimonji punched through the bottom of the bucket which broke a hole through it and the part the was punched off flew into the wall, going right past a now sweating Kenichi. "I'm more than happy to clear things up for you."

"Neat trick, but a bucket can't fight back."

"Hmm, who's saying that!" Daimonji said, angry at being taunted.

Though he and everyone else in the dojo gasped and he became slightly less assertive when he saw who it was. Standing at the entrance to the Karate club's dojo was Shirou, now wearing a scowl.

"Shirou Tsukiharu?" Daimonji breathed out, intimidated.

He wasn't the only one as everyone else in the club who was here to watch a one-sided beatdown quickly became stricken with fear at the sight of the infamous Delinquent and started whispering amongst themselves.

"What's he doing here?"

"I don't know."

"You don't think he's looking for a fight do you?"

"Well now that I think about it, I've heard people say he hangs out with Shirahama a lot."

"Seriously?! Why didn't you tell me? What if we pissed him off."

Even though they were being discrete with their whispering, it was obvious Shirou could still hear them perfectly. Though the one person who wasn't scared or intimidated by him stepped forward.

He was Saizo Tsukuba the Captain of the Karate club. He was tall, standing one inch taller than Daimonji, and was also wearing a Karate gi, but with a Black-belt. He had dark black hair and a crew-cut hairstyle. His face was rough-looking like he had a permanent scowl and a strong looking chin. The most noticeable thing about him was his strong build and the way he stood. Unlike Daimonji who was just a common thug, Tsukuba had the aura of someone who genuinely studied Karate.

"Tsukiharu." Tsukuba addressed him, with a glare.

"Tsukuba." Shirou responded with a taunting grin.

"Why are you here?" Tsukuba got to the point. "This is a matter involving the Karate club, meaning it doesn't concern you. Or are you here for a fight?"

"Don't get the wrong idea, I only came here to watch this match." Shirou clarified. "I have no intention of fighting anyone."

"R-Really?" Daimonji asked, still slightly unnerved. "You're just going to watch and nothing else?"

"Yeah." Shirou assured him, before turning to the others and squinting his eyes. "But only as long as this stays as a match. If anyone else gets involved or you keep going after the match officially ends, then you'll be facing me next."

His warning made all the spectators gulp. While Damonji looked more relieved.

"Okay then, I was kinda worried when I saw Tsukiharu. But if he's not here to fight, then I can relax." Daimonji said, turning back to Kenichi. "So now there's nothing stopping me from crushing you, runt."

Tsukuba stepped forward. "Alright then, I'll be the referee for the fight." The two of them stood off the in front of each other and Tsukuba gave the signal. "Begin.

Once the fight began, Daimonji let out a roar and charged forward as he through a strong punch. Kenichi stood his ground as the punch was coming and kept a clear head.

_"Keep it together."_ Kenichi thought to himself. _"Remember what Shirou taught you."_

_(When you're facing someone that much heavier than you it's impossible to fully block his attack. So forget out blocking—)_

_"—And focus on dodging!"_ Kenichi finished the instruction he was remembering.

With his mind focused on that, Kenichi prepared himself. As Daimonji's fist was about to connect, Kenichi ducked beneath it and pivoted to his right side. Evading Daimonji's attack and now outside his field of vision.

All those watching were surprised, the one most surprised was Tsukuba who could see clearly that Kenichi had used a skillful technique just now and was shocked that he could do so at all. Shirou just looked satisfied, knowing how this was going to end.

"When did you…?" Daimonji also was surprised, seeing Kenichi at his side.

_"Wait for it, don't attack him."_ Kenichi thought to himself. _"My hits don't have the power to hurt him so I'd be wasting energy."_

"If you not going to attack, then die!" Daimonji shouted, attacking again.

As he kept attacking, Kenichi kept dodging every punch that was thrown, all the while keeping a cool head.

_"Stay patient, wait for him to wear himself out."_ Kenichi analyzed the situation calmly. _"His punches aren't to fast, compared to Shirou's they're moving in slow-motion. I can do this."_

"You idiot! Ahh!" Daimonji yelled whilst punching. "You can dodge all day long! But you won't win! You can't win!"

_"He's wrong, I can do this."_ Kenichi inwardly assured himself. _"Just have to keep dodging."_

The fight kept going like this for a while, it became a patter of Daimonji attacking and Kenichi evading. Everyone watched in silence, never expecting the fight to go like this. Unbeknownst to most, Niijima was watching in secret as well, while writing something down on his PDA. Only Shirou noticed him there., but didn't say anything.

After going on for a while, Daimonji stopped punching and was panting for air, while sweating a lot from all his punching. It was clear he was almost out of steam. Yet he still looked like he wanted to kill Kenichi, only his confidence was now anger.

"_Huff_…_Huff_… You're not gonna beat me if you don't fight back." Daimonji told him, trying to catch his breath.

Kenichi was sweating a bit too and was also running out of breath, but he was in a much better condition compared to Daimonji.

_"It's almost time."_ Kenichi thought. _"He's almost completely worn out, this is my chance."_

"Oh man, Daimonji's hits are powerful but the kid's just too fast."

"I know, if this keeps up, Daimonji's going to wear himself out."

Shirou heard what some of the spectators were saying and thought. _"That's the idea, third-strings. It doesn't matter how strong you are, it doesn't take much to beat a tired man."_

Tsukuba was also thinking while watching. "He has to of had some training." He considered before turning to Shirou. "Was it him? Did Tsukiharu teach him how to fight like this?"

"You don't seem to get it, _Huff_… You can side-step till you're blue in the face, but if you don't attack me you're a dead man!" Daimonji roared and charged at him again, with reckless disregard for his condition.

Now Daiminji's punches were no different than that of a lumberjack swinging an ax around without any kind of aim or focus, just mindless flailing. The frustration of not being able to land a hit on someone he saw as a weakling took way his ability to stay calm.

_"He's lost it."_ Kenichi noticed. _"Now's my chance!"_

Kenichi rushed in at the same time as Daimonji and once again slid past him. However this time he stuck out his leg in order to make it collide with Daimonji's, this result in Daimonji losing his balance and tripping over himself, landing on his stomach.

Once again, those watching were surprised. But none more surprised than Kenichi himself.

_"It worked!?"_ He thought, amazed.

"Get up, you're making us look bad Daimonji!"

"You're not going to let the kid win, are you!?"

"Yeah man, don't give up now!"

While some of the spectators were egging him on, Daimonji slowing got back to his feet, looking even angrier. Tsukuba stepped forward.

"Daimonji, you sure you want to continue?" Tsukuba asked.

But Daimonji ignored him completely and let out another roar. "NOW YOU DIIEEEEEE!"

Kenichi readied himself to finish the match.

* * *

_The night before the match, Kenichi and Shirou were in the backyard at Shirou's house. Kenichi was sitting on the ground gasping for air while Shirou stood over him._

_"Alright then, I'd say you're ready to win that match now." Shirou decided._

_"You think so?" Kenichi after, after catching his breath._

_"Yeah, just make sure you follow the plan exactly. Especially the last part." Shirou instructed him. "Things will only work if the final blow goes perfectly if you mess it up you won't get another chance."_

_"So for it to work I have to wear him down before I can go on the offensive?" Kenichi asked for confirmation._

_"That's right and also, the first time you use the stepping method, make sure it looks like a fluke." Shirou told him. "It has to look like it was just an accident or he just tripped."_

_"Okay, but why?" Kenichi asked, not getting it._

_"Because that way he won't be expecting you to be able to actually do it again on purpose." Shirou informed him. "Plus it'll make him angrier and crazier in his fighting, which'll make it easier to get him the second time._

_"I get it, then I use the stepping method to knock him over again." Kenichi realized._

_"But you'll be knocking him over using a Judo move, where you disrupt his balance and make him hit the floor hard." Shirou explained. "Once he's tired and careless you just need to knock him down and make sure he falls headfirst, his exhaustion, plus the weight, the momentum, and the way he lands will end the fight right there."_

_"But uh, will making him hit the floor really knock him out?" Kenichi wondered. "I mean, it's just falling down."_

_"You only say that because you've never been in a real fight before." Shirou told him, not concerned. "Don't worry it'll work, don't underestimate how much damage comes from falling."_

* * *

Back in the present Kenichi waited for his opponent to get in close, once Daimonji was right in front of him, he made his move. Kenichi used the stepping method to dodge the wide swing punch. Following up on that he took an extra step forward and placed his right on Daimonji's right shoulder, then he pushed with all his weight and drew him in using his momentum to make Daimonji lose balance a second time.

Now Daimonji was knocked off his feet and pushed forward by Kenichi, which resulted in him falling headfirst on the floor with a loud thud. After hitting the floor Daimonji immediately lost consciousness.

This time all the club members watching were completely shocked, all they could do was sit there jaw-dropped at what they had just witnessed. Even Tsukuba was speechless at what had just happened. Shirou just looked with a victorious smirk.

_"That settles it."_ Shirou thought, pleased.

"I… Did I?" Kenichi said to himself, as surprised as everyone else. "Did I just win?"

Tsukuba then cleared his head and turned to one of the others. "Hey, go and get me a bucket of water."

As one of them went to get the water, the rest of the gather around the fallen Daimonji.

"Did you just see that?"

"There's no way, is this for real?"

"He hit the ground, head-first."

"I can't believe it."

"That scrawny punk took him out."

As everyone else was talking amongst themselves the bucket of water had arrived and Tsukuba dumped it all on Daimonji's head. This immediately woke him up and he sat up gasping for air. After that he looked around, trying to get a grasp on what just happened.

"W-What just happened?" Daimonji asked no one specific.

"The match just ended, you lost." Tsukuba answered him.

"Wha?" Daimonji gasped, unable to fully believe it. "T-That didn't count as a win, did it? That was a throwing move."

"You're pathetic." Tsukuba reprimanded him.

"He sure is." Shirou agreed, now standing beside Kenichi. "The terms were whoever beat the other guy was the winner, it said nothing about winning using only Karate."

"But he's right though." Kenichi added. "That was a Jujitsu technique I used just now. I know throwing moves are against the rules in an official match so if this were a real match I would have been disqualified after that."

_"Jujitsu, where did he learn that?"_ Tsukuba wondered.

"Regardless things have now been settled. The match is over and so Kenichi has officially resigned from this club, you won't be seeing him here again." Shirou turned to leave. "Come on, let's go."

"Ah, right." Before Kenichi left, he turned and bowed to the club members. "Thank you very much." He then turned as well.

"Don't thank them, you damn boy scout." Shirou told him, annoyed.

"What, it's proper courtesy." Kenichi defended.

As they reached the door, before they could open it they were stopped.

"Wait!" Tsukuba called out, looking directly at Shirou. "It was you wasn't it? You're the one who taught him how to fight like that."

"Did I? I don't see how that's any of your business." Shirou told him mockingly. "But hey, if you really want to know, why not find out for yourself?"

After saying those words, the two of them walked out and left the Karate club's dojo. Leaving an irritated Tsukuba who was glaring at the door.

* * *

Later after they had left School and it became sunset, Shirou and Kenichi were walking down their usual route, the two of them didn't bother to wait for Miu and just left by themselves.

Kenichi sighed. "It's finally over. I'm just glad a got through that without being killed."

"You'd think you be happier that you won." Shirou noted.

"I am glad, but I wish I could have done so without using a move that was against the rules in Karate." Kenichi said, thinking back on it.

Now Shirou sighed. "God, I always hate how much of a stickler for the rules you are."

"Well, what do you expect!?" Kenichi snapped at him. "Without rules, Martial Arts is just violence."

"I don't have a problem with violence." Shirou shrugged. "Besides, those guys in that club were just thugs. You played them at their game and won, so just take this victory and run away with it."

"I guess you're right." Kenichi then looked up at him. "Still though, I only won because of everything you taught me. It was amazing, my head was totally clear and everything was exactly like it was during training."

_"I wonder if he even realizes what happened back there."_ Shirou thought. _"He has no talent for fighting and yet, he has something completely different. When he gets in the zone all inhibitions vanish and he's completely focused on the fight in front of him. Plus while he has no instinct for fighting, he somehow soaks up everything he got from training and fights using moves exactly how they were done during training, like perfectly reciting a line in a book."_

While Shirou was thinking about this, Kenichi didn't even notice Shirou had suddenly gone silent and was still just walking beside him. Shirou continued to think over the fight and what he had learned about Kenichi.

_"It's like; while his body isn't suited for Martial Arts, his mind was built for Martial Arts."_ Shirou deduced. _"But at the same time, that means any style or discipline he may learn will only be completely orthodox and by the book. Then again that lines up with his personality."_

Soon enough, after walking for a bit they see Niijima standing in front of them.

"The warrior's back." Niijima addressed them.

"What do you want?" Kenichi asked, looking fed up the moment he saw him.

"I'm just curious, how'd the fight turn up for ya?" Niijima questioned Kenichi.

Before Kenichi could answer, Shirou spoke up. "Why bother asking a question you know the answer to? After all, you were watching."

Niijima smiled at that statement. "I had a feeling you knew I was there."

"Wait, he was watching?" Kenichi asked surprised, completely unaware of this.

"Oh keep up would you." Niijima took out his PDA. "Word on the street is you won using an illegal move. But while it may be against official rules, the fact is you were forced into a real fight, so no matter what anyone says about it Kenichi, in my humble opinion; you won."

Kenichi was surprised, not having thought he would hear such words from Niijima but smiled nonetheless. "Well thank you very much." He then noticed something. "Hey wait, did you just call me by my name? I think that's the first time you've called me anything other than Weak Knees."

"Think of it as a reward for your victory." Niijima brushed off.

Shirou then stepped forward.

"That's great, but I doubt you came here just to tell us that." Shirou guessed. "So what's the scope?"

"You catch on quick, that's good." Niijima put away his PDA. "I've got some info for you, Shirou. The guy who refereed Kenichi's little fight session is pretty fired up. I decided it was right to give you fair warning and let you know that he's gunning for you."

"He what?!" Kenichi asked, flabbergasted. "Are you serious?!"

"So you're saying Tsukuba wants to fight me?" Shirou asked for confirmation, not worried.

"Correct, Tsukuba the most dangerous fighter in the Karate club, not to mention the fact that he's in tight with a gang of thugs." Niijima confirmed, before walking away. "But considering it's you were talking about, I'd say it shouldn't be an issue. But sure to tell me the details afterwards."

After Niijima was gone, Kenichi immediately turned to Shirou, while freaking out.

"Shirou this is bad, Tsukuba's not like the others, he's dangerous. You should…" Kenichi paused when he noticed the expression on Shirou's face. "Shirou?"

The expression he was making was pretty simple to figure out with a single glance, pure excitement. Like he couldn't wait for something to begin. "Now, it's my turn."

* * *

**And that's the chapter. To start things off I put more emphasis on Kenichi's training because personally I figured it was necessary. Since Kenichi has no talent for Martial Arts, the idea of just teaching him one move without trying it on a person, telling him the main purpose of that move, and just expecting him to win the fight with just that is not just wishful thinking, it's also stupid.**

**Thus I had Shirou give him more well thought out training and proper instruction to make Kenichi better prepared. And for the fight, I demonstrated that even though Kenichi has no talent for Martial Arts, he somehow is able to take what he learned from training and redo it perfectly in the heat of battle when he's in the right mindset, which is what makes in a capable fighter in his own way.**

**Now that that's been settled, the next fight will be Shirou's turn to fight. It will be his fight with Tsukuba and the beginning of his feud with Ragnarok, which will be something exciting to see.**

**Anyways thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, if you want more then leave a review, if you liked the story click the follow/favorite, and as always have an awesome day.**


	4. Challenging Ragnarok

**Hey everyone and welcome to this chapter. This chapter will be Shirou's first fight against a named character and it will be the start of the plot moving forward, I also plan on doing something for Kenichi in this chapter for the sake of him growing in his own way. Hope you all enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fan-based parody, History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi is owned by Funimation and Syun Matsuena, Please support the official release.**

* * *

"Shirou" Regular speech.

_"Shirou"_ Thoughts.

_**SEIKUKEN**_ Attack names.

(_Shirou_) Words said previously.

[Shirou] Words said in unison.

* * *

**Challenging Ragnarok**

* * *

The day began at Koryuu High School, the bell signaling the beginning of lunch break had just rung, and the class had just ended. At this point, some students were chatting amongst themselves while sitting their desks. Two, in particular, were in the middle of a conversation.

"Hey man, can I ask you a question? You know, without you making fun of me?"

A male student asked his friend.

"Yeah, sure."

"You know the new girl in class? What was her name again, Miu? Do you think she'd go on a date with me?"

He asked, flustered. His friend responded by glaring at him.

"In my opinion, you don't have a chance in Hell. Because I was going to ask her to go out with _me_!" He told him while grabbing his collar.

He responded by putting him in a choke-hold. "How stupid are you?! You've never even talked to her!?"

At that point, Miu happens to walk pasted them, which they both take notice of and stop fighting.

"Of course I haven't talked to her either. I don't know how to approach her. She's weird—In a hot way, kinda spacey. I haven't seen her talk to anyone, she can speak right?" He asked as Miu stopped walking and stood in front of a nearby desk.

"Shut up, she's about to talk to somebody!" His friend noticed.

"It's not a guy is it?" He asked, in suspense.

Miu smiled and greeted the person sitting in front of her. "Hey, Shirou."

Shirou who was listening to something on his phone took off his headphones and looked up at her. "What?"

The two guys a few desks away looked shocked at seeing her talk to him.

"No way, not that guy!" He said upset. "How can I possibly compete with that?"

"Yeah, if you try asking her out now and he finds out, you're dead."

"I thought you wanted to ask her out?" He reminded him.

"Not as much as I want to keep on living!" He said like it was obvious.

Ignoring those two, Shirou and Miu started talking.

"I'm fitting in pretty well in the Rhythmic Gymnastics club, but I wanted to ask, do you plan on signing up for any clubs?"

Shirou shook his head. "Yeah right, even I had the slightest interest in any club at this school—Which I don't. All the members would either be more Delinquents who want a swing at me, or students who'd be too afraid to talk to me."

"Well, that's too bad." Miu then looked over at Kenichi who was sitting on the desk right behind Shirou. "What about you Kenichi, what clubs have you signed up for now that you've left the Karate club?"

"Uhh…" Kenichi just groaned, resting his head on his desk.

"Maybe Judo and the Kendo club's not bad either?" Miu suggested.

"The-The… The Gardening club." Kenichi breathed out.

This made Miu face-fault in surprise, though Shirou sighed as if he was expecting this.

"Like, as in plants and flowers?" Miu asked, sweating a little. "You sure you don't want to join another Martial Arts club?"

"Nah, in this case, I agree with him." Shirou told her. "Even if he did join a club like that, his like of technique or coordination, or any kind of talent would just make him fall behind everyone else." He reminded her. "He can barely keep up with strength training at the Dojo."

"You don't have to put it like that!" Kenichi snapped, looking livelier than before. "That _strength training_ is beyond insane."

"You're the one who wants to spend all day planting flowers." Shirou reminded him. "Why be defensive about it?"

Kenichi sank back into his desk. "Of course I do, from now on I'll spend all my time watering innocent flowers who would never corner me in alleys or try to kick my face down my throat and live happily ever after~!" He said, sounding like a depressed man trying to keep his spirits up.

Shirou face-palmed. "Oh for god sake."

"Uh, is everything okay with Kenichi?" Miu asked, looking totally lost.

"Don't worry, that's just how he gets when the situation gets to tense for him." Shirou explained to her.

"But why would he be feeling like that? Did something happen?" Miu asked, now concerned.

"Allow me to answer that."

As if appearing out of nowhere, Niijima arrived—Standing between Miu and Shirou.

"Okayyy?" Miu responded, not sure what else to say.

"Right, you two haven't met yet, have you?" Shirou remembered before pointing to Niijima. "That's Niijima, he's an info-broker. Niijima this is Miu, she's been here a week so you probably know everything about her."

"Not enough I'd say." Niijima responded before giving her a small bow. "Pardon my nosy intrusion, but that's what I do. As I'm sure you've heard, my name is Haruo Niijima and I am on of Shirou's closest of close friends."

"Oh, you're one of Shirou's friends?!" Miu asked, pleasantly surprised.

"I wouldn't go that far, heck I wouldn't go far at all." Shirou cut in. "He's just an acquaintance if I'm in a good mood."

Niijima waved his hand. "Oh, details, details. The point is a friend of my close friend is a friend I'd like to get close to." He told Miu.

"Oh, well nice to meet you, my name is Miu." Miu happily greeted him.

"Yes, I've already heard." Niijima happily responded.

Shirou then got up from his seat. "Well, now that we all know each other, I'm going. It's not lunch break useless you're actually having lunch."

Miu clapped her hands together. "Oh, let's all have lunch together then." She suggested.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea." Niijima agreed, before turning around. "You'll be joining us, won't you Kenichi?"

Kenichi kept gritting his teeth, stood up, and snapped. "Would you all quit acting like everything's fine! Don't you realize the trouble that's about to happen?!"

* * *

In another part of the school, the tall, large, and angry Delinquent known as Saizo Tsukuba was walking down the hallway with a scowl on his face as he was thinking back to the events that took place yesterday at the Karate club dojo. All the while, any other student that walked by either tried to keep their distance or kept their heads down out of fear.

_"Kenichi Shirahama, what scrawny little brat…"_ Tsukuba thought to himself. _"The kid's got no natural talent at all, but somehow after a week he suddenly knows how to fight?"_ He thought back to how Kenichi defeated Daimonji. _"It could have been a fluke, but…"_

_(Did I? I don't see how that's any of your business." Shirou told him mockingly. "But hey, if you really want to know, why not find out for yourself?)_

After remembering what Shirou said, Tsukuba's scowl became harder. _"Tsukiharu's always been a stronger brawler, but if he's a Martial Artist on top of that… He might be a bigger problem than I gave him credit for."_ He thought as he went outside. _"In any case, I'll find out soon enough."_

* * *

Meanwhile on the school roof. The others were sitting down and enjoying their respective lunches while continuing the conversation they were having back in the classroom.

"So he's in the Karate club too?" Miu asked surprised.

While Kenichi still looked nervous, Shirou just enjoyed his lunch without a care, and Niijima just smiled as he explained. "Yes, he referred Kenichi's last fight and I'm afraid he's taken quite an interest in his abilities as sportsmen, or more specifically where he acquired those abilities." He gave her a lengthy explanation. "I've heard he's become rather keen on testing his skills on our good friend, Shirou."

Miu still seemed confused. "I don't understand."

"Too many big words…" Shirou said before taking another bite of his food. "He means the guy wants a go at me."

Niijima waved his hand. "More like he wants to beat the snot out of you."

"Oh, he just wants a fight?" Miu smiled, now feeling calm. "You had me worried, I thought Shirou was in real trouble."

"He is in trouble!" Kenichi cut in, annoyed by their behavior. "Tsukuba's never lost a match, I've seen him spar and he's always against at least two guys if not more!" He told them, now sounding afraid. "That guy is so strong he can break rocks with his bare hands like it's nothing! And I've even seen him snap a baseball bat with a single kick!"

"Hmm, then he must be a belt-black." Miu figured, not sounding calm.

Shirou just looked amused. "Ha! Black-belt? I use black-belts to warm up after breakfast."

"Do you not understand the concept of danger!" Kenichi snapped at him.

"But enough about that, tell me about you!" Niijima told Miu while taking out his PDA. "Your family, your _measurements_, do you like pointy ears?" He then appeared behind her. "You know what they say about big ears right?—WAAAAAHH!"

Unfortunately, instead of answering, the moment Niijima's hand touched her shoulder from behind, her instincts kicked in and she fliped him—Knocking him flat on his back.

Miu immediately had a regretful expression. "Oh no! Didn't anyone ever tell you not to sneak up behind a girl?!" She asked before kneeling down to see his face. "Hey, are you okay?! I didn't hurt you did I?"

"Oh yeah, 'probably should have warned him about that?" Shirou realized.

* * *

Later that day, after school was over, the three of them went back to Ryozanpaku and went back into their training. Right now Kenichi was training with Kensei and was currently training his legs by doing step-lunges while keeping his arms behind his head. Kensei was sitting on the porch, watching him.

"Now, nice and slow with a medium stance." Kensei instructed him. "Good, yes, just like that. Martial Arts are rooted in the legs, those with weak legs have no foundation for their skills to grow on."

"Sure, that makes sense, but how many of these do I have to do?" Kenichi asked while working up a sweat.

Kensei smiled as he answered. "Just another 9566 to go."

"Aaahh!" Kenichi groaned.

"Alright, switch!" Shirou said walking up to them with bruises. "I'm finished with Muay Thai for today, now it's time for Kempo."

"Ah yes, of course." Kensei got up. "Kenichi keep up with your exercises while I begin with Shirou's training."

At that point, Apachai appeared out of nowhere. It was surprising how such a big guy could be so good at sneaking around.

"Is Apachai's teaching time now!" Apachai cheered as he began throwing warm-up punches and kicks. "APA! Apa! Apa! Apa! Apa!" Kenichi just looked frightened while Apachai stopped and smiled. "Okay, Apachai's fists are done being warmed up now, Kenichi, am now ready to fight to death, we spar now, yes?"

At that moment, Kenichi tried to run for his life. "Thank anyway! But I just remembered I had to take care of something!"

Unfortunately, he didn't as Shirou grabbed him by the back of his collar and hold him in place. "Think again, your schedule just cleared up."

"We do I have to do this training anyway?! I thought I was supposed to train with Akisame?" Kenichi cried out in desperation.

"He's out right now, so you'll be training with us for today." Kensei answered him.

"Besides, at the end of the day, it's still just strength training so it's no big difference. And besides, any training they give you won't be as painful as whatever that sadist would come up with." Shirou reminded him.

Kenichi thought about it and sunk down depressed. "You have a point."

"Okay! We begin!" Apachai cheered as he kicked out his right leg. "APA!"

POW!

After his kick made contact with Kenichi's body, the impact was so great that Kenichi was sent flying through the air like a kickball.

"AAAHH! Tell my family I love them!" Kenichi cried out before hitting the ground and losing consciousness.

Apachai looked afraid, fearing for Kenichi's well being, Kensei looked as though he predicted this would happen and Shirou pinched the bridge of his forehead.

* * *

"Kenichi? Kenichi?"

In a world of darkness, Kenichi couldn't see or move, all he could do was hear the sound of a worried voice calling out his name. After a few seconds after hearing the voice, a light came back to Kenichi's sight and he slowly regained consciousness.

As he opened his eyes he saw the face of his 12-year-old Sister; Honoka. Honoka has a similar hairstyle and facial appearance to that of her Brother Kenichi, being short brown hair except she has no fringe in the front and her face has more of a youthful and feminine presence. She is also short, reaching only up to Kenichi's waist.

"Kenichi, what's wrong!?" Honoka asked as small tears of concern were forming beneath her eyes.

"That you, Honoka?" Wait a minute, what's going on? Don't tell me you died too?" He asked, still barely conscious. "It's so sad, we're both dead. But at least I'll have my Sister to keep me company in Heaven and we'll always be happy…" He monologed happily. "Always—Augh!"

He was snapped out of his funk when he felt a chop hit him on the head and sat up to see Shirou standing beside him. "What the Hell are you saying?"

"What the? Shirou?" Kenichi asked, now more awake. "Where am I?"

"You're at home, Kenichi." Honoka told him, still sounding worried.

"I'm home?" Kenichi realized, looking around.

They were inside the living room of Kenichi's house, which was an average suburban residence. Kenichi was lying on a couch, Honoka was sitting next to him on the floor, and Shirou was standing beside him.

"Yeah, I had to drag your unconscious mug here and Apachai blew you away." Shirou informed him.

"Unconscious? Wait, then that means… Apachai didn't kill me?!" Kenichi said amazed, though Honoka just looked confused. With that realization, Kenichi began to laugh like a madman. "gahahaHAHAHAHA! I'M STILL ALIVEEEEEE!" Kenichi cheered.

"MOM! Kenichi thought he was dead and he's freaking me out!" Honoka cried out.

"I swear there's something wrong with this family." Shirou muttered.

* * *

After Kenichi woke up, Shirou went to Kenichi's room to wait while Kenichi was having a meeting with his family in the dining room. Before long, the door opened and Kenichi entered the room, Kenichi sat on his bed while Shirou sat on a chair beside the reading-desk in the room.

"That was a pretty short meeting." Shirou noticed.

"Well, there wasn't much to talk about." Kenichi replied.

"Well, in any case, you said you wanted to talk, so what's up?" Shirou asked.

Kenichi smiled. "I think I figured out a strategy that'll help against Tsukuba."

"And, what might that be?" Shirou asked, his tone suggested he wasn't expecting much.

Kenichi whispered. "There's only one thing to do… STRATEGIC WITHDRAWAL!" He shouted the last part.

"So basically running away?" Shirou said drily.

"This isn't considered running away, it's my plan of action!" Kenichi insisted. "This way we can avoid an unnecessary fight and live to fight another day."

"That's just an excuse." Shirou shot down his plan. "It doesn't what you call it or however you try to glorify it, the bottom line is you want to run away."

"I.…" Kenichi just looked down and upset. "I just want to help you. Neither you nor Niijima or Miu seem to get how dangerous Tsukuba is. He's completely different than Daimonji, and you keep acting like you _have_ to fight him, why?"

"You really want to know?" Shirou asked him before answering. "Because if I don't fight him, then you'll have to."

"…Wha?" Now Kenichi just looked lost.

"Tell me, what do you think would've happened if you'd of beaten Daimonji, in front of Tsukuba, and I wasn't there at the time?" Shirou continued. "Obviously, rather than me, Tsukuba would've picked a fight with you."

"What? But why would he do that?" Kenichi asked, now sounding afraid.

"You seriously couldn't tell, did you think this was one of those "High School Underdog" Movies were the wimpy kid beats the bully at the end, becomes a Hero, and the credits roll?" Shirou spoke to him like he was naive. "Unfortunately those movies never tell you what happens to the Hero after the credits. In the real world, even if you take out one bully, there'll always be more lined up to take his place, after Daimonji it was Tsukuba."

"Then why didn't you tell me?!" Kenichi snapped at him.

"What difference would that have made?!" Shirou snapped back at him. "Would you have just not tried to win that fight, or let him keep bullying you?"

"Well no, but…" Kenichi trailed off, now not knowing what to say.

"It may be a raw deal, but that's reality, and here there's no happy ending to save you." Shirou told him. "That's why the Master's of Ryozanpaku only gave you strength training instead of teaching you real Martial Arts, it's because they all knew this would happen… Expect Miu."

"But then, if you knew why did you teach me before the fight?" Kenichi asked, now confused.

"All part of the plan, I couldn't fight that fight for you. But at the very least, I could take the target off your back and put it on mine, so the rest of the bullies lined up would aim for me instead." Shirou answered him, not bothered by it.

Now Kenichi widened his eyes in surprise. "You mean, you did this because you were trying to help me?"

Shirou shrugged. "Don't let it bother you too much, I'm a Delinquent to so this fight was always going to happen at some point, it was just a question of when." After that, Shirou stood up and went for the door. "And the answer to that question is; tomorrow. See ya."

"Wait!" Kenichi got up as well. "Even despite all that, I still don't think it's a good idea to fight Tsukuba, he dangerous."

"Kenichi…" Shirou held his hand on the doorknob, turned to face Kenichi, and smirked confidently at him. "_I'm_ dangerous."

After saying that he opened the door and walked out.

* * *

After walking out of Kenichi's room, Shirou walked down the stairs and went to the front door. He began putting on his shoes so he could leave.

"Oh, Shirou."

A masculine voice addressed him and Shirou turned around to see Kenichi's parents—Mototsugu and Shiori Shirahama were behind him. Mototsugu is a tall middle-aged man with short dark blue hair and a fairly lean figure as he keeps himself in decent shape for a man his age. He is dressed in a traditional black kimono and no shoes.

Shiori is a fairly tall and deceptively youthful-looking middle-aged woman who can be considered very attractive. She has a curvaceous figure and a sizable bust. She has a fair-skinned with brown eyes with straight brown hair traits that she passed on to her children. Her bangs have strands hanging between her eyes with the rest being chin-length yet curve outwards to hanging beside her face. She also has a few stranding hanging over her ears to frame her of her face and shoulder-length ponytail on her back. She is seen wearing pink lipstick, a plain yellow shirt with a purple long sleeve underneath with a short skirt just above her knees with stockings around her legs. She is also seen wearing a plain apron for chores.

Shirou greeted them casually. "Hey, long time."

"It certainly has, thank you for bringing Kenichi home, Shirou." Shiori spoke in a gentle and welcoming manner. "Why don't you stay and have some tea?"

Shirou shrugged his shoulders. "'Preciate the offer, but I gotta get home, Haruto's waiting for me." He told her.

"I understand." She smiled.

"Before you go, would you mind if asked you something?" Mototsugu asked with a stern tone that might intimidate someone else."What kind of dojo are you and Kenichi going to? I don't mind what he does in his own time, but I find it odd that whatever he's doing causes him to come home battered and bruised every day."

Shirou sighed before answering. "Mototsugu, let me put it this way. In case you haven't noticed, I'm also battered and bruised, regardless of how much experience you have the training there is rough on anyone, so of course, I beginner like him would have a much harder time." Shirou explained like he was obvious."Besides, if he ever felt like it, he's allowed to quit at any time."

Mototsugu was silent for a second before he responded. "I see, I suppose you have a point. Well then, I'll just have to trust in my son's judgment." He said in a mature manner. "Thank you for answering my question."

"I just didn't want you barging into the dojo with your hunting rifle." Shirou admitted, nonchalantly.

In that instant, Mototsugu's mature expression flipped into a defensive one. "What?! I was never planning on doing that!"

"He right, you don't have to worry." Shiori pleasantly added. "Already talked him out of doing that."

"Don't tell him that!" Mototsugu told her, upset.

Shirou then opened the front door. "Well, enjoy your evening." He departed with those words.

* * *

The next day started back at the school. Shirou and Kenichi met up with Miu after class and were walking across the schoolyard.

"So, are you planning on fighting this guy today?" Miu asked.

"Yeah, I'd prefer to get this over with sooner rather than later." Shirou told her.

Kenichi stayed quiet and had a nervous expression, he still felt unsure about all this.

"Ah, there you are."

The three of them turned to see Niijima appeared behind them.

"Niijima?! What the heck do you want?!" Kenichi asked like he was accusing him of something.

"Now, now, calm down Kenichi, I'm just here to deliver some news." Niijima leaned in and faced Shirou. "You'll be glad to know that members of the Karate club are standing guard over all the and entrances and exits to the school. It goes without saying that they're looking for you."

"It must be Tsukuba's orders, now we can't leave even if we wanted to." Kenichi realized, feeling worried.

"I wasn't planning on leaving in the first place, now tell; Where is Tsukuba?" Shirou asked Niijima seriously.

Niijima smiled and pointed. "Behind the school building, right around of course." He happily told him.

Shirou smirked and cracked his knuckles. "Let's do this."

The four of them soon made their way to the back of the school building and standing there waiting for them was Tsukuba, who was currently holding two walnuts in his hand that he was breaking with his grip. When he saw Shirou, Tsukuba looked pleased.

"Didn't expect you to come to me on your own, that saved me the trouble of hunting you down." Tsukuba started as he faced him. "So what's with the crowd, did you need back up?"

"No worries, they're just here to watch." Shirou stepped forward to slightly close the distance. "I plan on finishing this quickly, third-string."

Tsukuba narrowed his eyes and got into a Karate stance, while Shirou raised his fists. But before they could proceed, Kenichi spoke out.

"Hold on!" His voice got their attention as they both faced him. "Why are you doing this, Tsukuba? You already know you're strong, so what's the point of fighting?"

"The point?" Tsukuba repeated annoyed. "I never said I was trying to make a point, I just want to fight Tsukiharu!"

Kenichi greeted his teeth and then looked at Shirou. "Shirou, you don't have to do this, there's no reason to fight someone like him."

"You mean you need a reason to fight?" Shirou asked with a smirk, his response surprised Kenichi. "Hate to break it to you, but I've never needed anything as loaded as that, I just do what I want and I won't even pretend otherwise. Now stand back and watch, I'll show you what a brawl looks like."

Kenichi stepped back and looked frustrated. "I can't stop them, these two won't even listen to reason."

"You really need to chill out, Kenichi." Niijima told him, not worried in the least. "You should also pay attention, considering this'll be your first time watching Shirou in a real fight."

Now Miu became surprised upon hearing that. "Wait, Kenichi, you've never seen Shirou fight before?"

"Of course not!" Kenichi shouted like it was obvious. "Why would I ever want to see something like that?!"

"But what about when he beat those thugs that night on the same day when we met?" Miu asked, ow confused.

"Yeah as it was as terrifying as I thought it would be!" Kenichi responded still upset. "How could you possibly expect me to want to see more of that?!"

_"I thought he was worried because he didn't see Shirou's spar with Apachai, but if he's really never seen him fight before…"_ Miu thought now having a better understanding. She then smiled. "Kenichi, you don't have to worry, because Shirou is a lot stronger than you think."

Kenichi looked confused. "Huh?"

Shirou just stood there looking carefree while Tsukuba remained in his stance looking annoyed at Shirou. _"He's leaving himself wide open, why won't he take a stance? Is he trying to say he can beat me without even trying?"_ He thought angrily. _"In that case, I'll just attack!"_ He prepared to attack. "Ha!"

At that moment, Shirou rushed to attack the second he saw Tsukuba about to move in and was right in front of him before he could even step forward. Tsukuba was so surprised he couldn't respond in time as Shirou struck forth and punched him in the stomach.

"Gah!" Tsukuba coughed in pain as he stepped back and gripped his stomach. _"I didn't even see him coming, how the Hell did he reach me so fast?! Damnit, he landed the first blow."_

"That was a liver blow…" Miu muttered, slightly surprised. "Not only did he land the first blow, but he also made the perfect choice on which punch to use, considering the liver blow not only deals damage, it messes up the opponents breathing and stamina." She deduced as he watched. "No one can handle a liver blow, especially right at the start of a fight."

"What's wrong, tired already?" Shirou asked in a taunting manner. "Guess unlike me, you don't live up to the hype."

"Shut up." Tsukuba raised his fists again. "I'm just getting started!"

This time, Tsukuba rushed in to attack Shirou was a strong punch, but because he was flustered and lost his cool, his swing was too wide and easy to dodge. Thus, Shirou waited until he got close, shifted his weight around his legs, and pivoted around Tsukuba—Now standing behind him.

Miu looked surprised. _"That's the move I taught Kenichi. I didn't know Shirou could do it too."_

_"The stepping method, but he didn't counterattack?"_ Kenichi also looked surprised.

"You know, Tsukuba. I learned something about you from this fight, and do you know what that is?" Shirou asked, completely relaxed. "Despite being in a gang, you aren't cut out for street fighting."

"What?" Tsukuba looked both surprised and annoyed that he was bringing up something like this during a fight. "What the Hell are you talking about?"

"You're a black-belt so I know you've trained hard, but your moves are too orthodox and by the book." Shirou elaborated. "You're not used to the freestyle type of brawling that comes with being a Delinquent, I bet you've fought more times in a dojo than you've fought outside." He then turned his head to smirk at him. "You seriously think someone like that can stand up to me."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Tsukuba stepped back to gain some distance. "I just need one good blow to put you down."

He then used his right leg to aim a kick at Shirou's head from the side. But Shirou remained where he was and held up his hand. Upon impact, Shirou's hand stopped Tsukuba's kicked and held his leg in place, which shocked the taller Delinquent. Shirou than moved up by ducking down and kicked upwards, slamming his kick into Tsukuba's chin and knocking his head upwards.

Intending to finish the job, Shirou grabbed one of Tsukuba's arms with his hands and pulled him forward, lifting him off the ground and over his shoulder. With Tsukuba in the air, Shirou used a Judo throw the make him crash into the ground, flat on his back.

SMASH!

The second he hit the ground, the impact itself could be heard by those watching, and Saizo Tsukuba was now unconscious and defeated. The fight was settled.

"Another reason why you aren't cut out for street fight is that you are used to falling." Shirou told him. "Unlike a dojo where there are soft floors or safety mats when fighting outside, there's only the hard, concrete ground. And hitting the ground hurts more than any punch or kick, that's why brawlers are harder to knock down, unlike you."

"Hahaha!" Niijima laughed victoriously as he placed a hand on Shirou's shoulder. "Excellent work as always my friend, just as I expect, you had no problem beating him. So how should I write about this in the school newspaper?"

"Easy, tell them my victory was perfect." Shirou replied nonchalantly.

Niijima nodded happily. "Yes, it practically writes itself."

Now Miu approached him. "That was great, Shirou. Both your offense and defense were completely in sync."

Shirou shrugged. "Don't get too impressed, anyone can look strong when fighting a third-string."

While they were talking amongst themselves, the only one who didn't join in was Kenichi, who just stood there shocked at what he just witness.

_"I don't believe it, has Shirou always been this strong?"_ Kenichi thought to himself, trying to wrap his head around all this. _"I mean, he's always been strong, but I never thought it was this much, he made beating Tsukuba look easy.…" _

Then he paused as if it took a few seconds for something to click in his mind. "Aah!" Kenichi ran to Tsukuba and lifted his arm to check his pulse, then he breathed out in relief. "His pulse is steady, I was worried you killed him for a second."

"What?" Shirou a brow. "Why do you care? It's Tsukuba."

"Well yeah, but still." Kenichi insisted. "You should at least be careful not to hurt someone too badly."

Shirou and Niijima both just groaned while Miu looked at him surprised.

"He's genuinely concerned about someone who was an enemy?" Miu thought before smiling. "What a funny guy."

Miu then started giggling, which confused Kenichi. "What, why are you laughing? Did I say something weird?"

"Kenichi, you _are_ weird." Shirou told him drily.

"You're a special kinda weird, and that's saying a lot coming from me." Niijima added.

* * *

After School, they went back to the dojo. While Shirou was in the yard doing some katas, Kenichi was in the dojo telling the Masters the results of the fight.

"So the punk won, huh? Ain't that nice." Sakaki nonchalantly replied while leaning against the wall.

"Yeah, that's great news." Akisame added with little care.

"Can't you guys look happier at least?" Kenichi asked, upset by their empty reactions.

"Sure we could, but the tough part hasn't even started yet." Sakaki told him.

"What "tough part"?" Kenichi asked confused.

"That Tsukuba guy wasn't he a well-known Delinquent?" Sasaki began. "Even if the punk is also well-known, he's still just a freshman, pretty soon word will get out that a strong guy like that was beaten by a freshman punk to all the other Delinquents in school." He explained. "And those Delinquents will probably want a piece of him themselves."

"Enemies will keep coming, one after another." Akisame joined in. "It's going to be Hell fighting them all."

When he heard that, Kenichi thought back to what Shirou told him.

_(In the real world, even if you take out one bully, there'll always be more lined up to take his place, after Daimonji it was Tsukuba.)_

Kenichi looked down. "I guess this is what he was talking about, after Daimonji it was Tsukuba and now, after Tsukuba who knows who else it could be."

Akisame then laughed. "But regardless, there's no need to be worried. Shirou most likely strong enough to handle any Delinquent he might run into at school, and even if he's not, our training will whip him into shape.

"That's right, by the time we're done with him that punk'll the Strongest guy in that school." Sakaki agreed wholeheartedly. "Besides, isn't life essentially an eternal battle?"

"That's _your_ theory of life!" Kenichi immediately disagreed with him. He then looked outside and smiled when he saw Shirou training. _"But still, I do a lot more relaxed now. I mean, even if one or two more Delinquents try to fight Shirou, they can't be that much stronger than Tsukuba and with how strong Shirou is along with how hard he trains, he shouldn't have much of a problem. Maybe things really will work out."_

* * *

The next morning, as classes were over and the students were on break, Kenichi and Shirou were walking together through the courtyard. To Kenichi's surprise though, any time another student saw them, they would either avoid eye contact or try to keep their distance. It was as if they were trying to avoid them completely. But while Kenichi was reacting to this, Shirou's expression showed that he either didn't notice or he didn't care.

As they continued to walk, Kenichi noticed to female students whispering while looking in their direction.

"Right there, that's the guy."

One of the girls' whispered while the other one gasped. When Shirou looked in their direction, they ran away. Kenichi looked confused.

"What's going on?" He asked. "Why's everyone avoiding us?"

"Not _us_ Kenichi, me." Shirou clarified.

The two of them soon sat down at their usual bench by the tree. "What do you mean?"

"Hey is something up?"

They both looked up and as usual, they saw Miu coming down from atop the tree and landing in front of them. "What's with that look, huh? Come on, you can tell me, I might be able to help out."

"You're being kinda pushy, you know?" Shirou told her.

"Ah, well…. It's just that, ah…" Kenichi then explained the strange behavior of their peers since this morning to Miu.

"I see, so you're worried that everyone's afraid of Shirou now." Miu understood.

Kenichi nodded. "Yeah, I'm starting to feel that they are."

"Shouldn't be too much of a surprise though." Shirou crossed his arms behind his head. "I just took out Tsukuba yesterday and that guy was always throwing his weight around, everyone was too afraid to even talk to him." He explained to them. "Since I beat him, their fear shifted from him to me."

"But that's not fair, you're not a bully like Tsukuba so they have no reason to treat you like him." Kenichi protested.

"You just don't get it, boy-scout." Shirou lazily told him. "Your nature isn't what they see, it's your rep. Besides, I'm a Delinquent to, so what do I care if I'm feared."

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a loud voice.

"EXTRA! EXTRA!" The three of them looked to see Niijima a few feet away, throwing around school papers and talking into a blowhorn. "IN AN AMAZING TURN OF EVENTS! THE ALMIGHTY FRESHMAN SHIROU DEFEATED TSUKUBA THE TERRIBLE IN PRACTIALLY ONE SHOT!"

Kenichi shrieked when he saw that and rushed to him, knocking Niijima down and grabbing him by the collar.

"What are you doing you, freaky alien psychopath!" Kenichi yelled at him.

"Hahahaha!" Niijima laughed, getting out of his grasp. "Isn't it obvious? I'm spreading the good word about my closets friend's perfect victory."

Shirou picked up a newspaper himself and examined it. "Hmm, doesn't look too bad."

Niijima grinned when he saw him. "I'm glad you like it my best friend."

"Quit messing around!" Kenichi told him. "Why are you passing this stuff around?!"

"Well, I'm in the newspaper club, it's my duty as a journalist to share this with the public, they have a right to know." Niijima then placed a hand on Shirou's shoulder. "Just look at your new ranking, it was high before but know you at the top! You couldn't ask for better PR."

"That was faster than I expected." Shirou looked it over.

"That doesn't mean you had to tell everyone!" Kenichi still protested.

"I know the truth, Kenichi." Niijima grinned at him. "I know that you guys have been secretly training at some exclusive dojo."

"What? How could you possibly know?" Kenichi asked surprised.

"I'll give you three guesses." Shirou sarcastically said while pointing to Miu.

Miu apologetically smiled. "Yeah, I'm the one who told him about it, didn't think you'd mind."

Kenichi gasped as Niijima continued to smile. "It only took Ice-Cream."

"Ice-Cream?!" Kenichi angrily repeated. "He bought you off?"

"Niijima's your friend, I didn't think you'd care!" Miu defended herself. "If I'd known I wouldn't have said anything!"

"Who cares anyway?" Shirou shrugged. "It's not like it was supposed to be a secret and it doesn't change anything when you get right down to it."

"Maybe but he's the last demon on earth that I ever wanted to know about this!" Kenichi responded.

"Ah well, what's done is done, no point worrying about it now." Shirou brushed off.

Niijimathen notices somethings and becomes alert. "Take a look, Shirou."

They all look to see a small group of three standing a few feet away.

One of them is a young man of average below-height with short dark hair and wears a headband on his head. He wears a white shirt with an open blue shirt over it and shorts with pockets. He's also shown to have a bit of a feminine look. He also wears a long earring on his left ear.

The other is a tall young man with a fairly lean and muscular build with short spike brown hair that sticks up and has the lower half shorter and has a scar under his chin. He wears the school uniform and has sunglasses at all times.

Third and the one who appears to be the leader is a tall young man with a muscular build, dark skin, and blue hair. He can be considered as an attractive man and seen in his school uniform with bandages on his wrists along with a long blue jacket. He's also seen with a blade of grass in his mouth.

The blue-haired one looks at a small sheet of paper and glares. "Tsukuba's an embarrassment, he's tarnished the image of Ragnarok."

He then drops the sheet in the air and punches, his punch is so fast and on-point that the paper is torn to shreds in a second.

Kenichi gasped when he saw that, but Shirou was paying close attention to what he just saw. _"Fast… Never seen someone around my age who can punch that smoothly."_

The blue-haired Delinquent continued. "You take care of Tsukuba, tell him to drop out of school and get out f town. And keep your eyes peeled for that freshman, Kisara wants us to bring him to her." He ordered.

The tall one nodded. "Yeah."

The short one smiled. "Sure thing."

The three of them took off after that. But with the others, Kenichi now looked worried around.

"Did you hear what they said?" Kenichi asked with fear in his tone. "Those guys wanna find Shirou and take him someplace."

"Maybe they just wanna be his friends?" Miu suggested.

"You know that's not what they want!" Kenichi snapped at her.

Miu started to tear up. "I'm sorry, you don't have to yell at me."

Shirou just rolled his eyes. _"She's really not helping against the stereotype that all blondes are stupid."_

"Bad news though, those guys are with Ragnarok." Niijima informed.

"What? You mean the same gang that Tsukuba was apart of?" Kenichi asked surprised.

"That's right, and now that Shirou defeated Tsukuba, he's on their hit-list." Niijima told him amused.

"Not surprised, that how it always goes with gangs, pick a fight with one member you pick a fight with them all." Shirou said, unconcerned.

"But wait, isn't that bad?" Kenichi asked now afraid.

"It's more than bad." Niijima smiled evilly. "You are in some serious water old chum, they're probably waiting on the streets for you and I bet where you live, Hahahahaha!" He laughed evilly. "To be honest I can't wait to find out who will win, you or Ragnarok?"

Shirou patted his shoulder. "Well, do yourself a favor and place your bets on me." He confidently told him.

"But wait, wasn't Tsukuba really well-known around this school?" Miu asked, having trouble understanding. "If they're strong too and from the same gang, how come no one mentioned them?"

"Tsukuba might be tough, but that's only within this school." Niijima explained. "The truth is Ragnarok extends over this entire town with only a few of its members being students here. They used Tsukuba to intimidate others, but most of their top members just ditch school entirely, like the three we just saw."

"Top members?" Kenichi repeated, surprised. "You mean they're stronger than Tsukuba?"

"A lot stronger." Shirou answered him. "In fact, by their standards, I'd say Tsukuba was just a grunt."

"A grunt?!" Kenichi repeated again, extremely panicked.

* * *

After school was over, Shirou, Kenichi, and Miu were walking down the street and heading for Ryozanpaku. While walking Kenichi still looked afraid, but Shirou didn't seem concerned. As they kept walking, they reached a fork in the road and Shirou made a turn which confused the other two.

"Hey, where are you going?" Miu asked, pointing to the side. "The dojo is this way."

He stopped and looked at them. "I'm not going to the dojo." He told them. "I got a tip from Niijima that says; some of those Ragnarok grunts hang out by the shopping district. So I'm gonna go there."

"What? Why would you do that?" Kenichi asked with concern.

"Isn't it obvious?" Shirou asked rhetorically. "They said they wanna take me to their boss, so I'll go to them and have them take to her."

"What?! You're going to pick a fight with them!?" Kenichi asked shocked.

"Better that than waiting for them to come to me." Shirou reasoned.

"Hold it!" Before he could turn to leave, Kenichi called out to him. "I'm being serious this time, don't do this. This isn't like all those other times you picked fights, just be reasonable for a second."

"What are you talking about?" Shirou asked.

"This isn't like before when you were just taking out bullies or some thugs, they're an entire gang and not to mention there are a lot of them who are a lot stronger than Tsukuba. Not even you can handle something like that." Kenichi tried reasoning with him. "If you try you'll be killed."

"Then let me ask you; what do you think I should do?" Shirou questioned him.

"There's always the strategic withdrawal." Kenichi suggested, trying to sound smart.

Shirou just looked fed up with him. "Do you miss the 'They're probably waiting on the streets for me and probably already know where I live' part?" He reminded him. "Where exactly would I _withdrawal_ too?"

.

.

.

"AAAHHHH!" Kenichi cried out in misery.

Miu giggled. "Guess you didn't that one through."

"Kenichi, let me you something about a fight." Shirou began, looking serious. "Regardless of your own circumstances, the fight doesn't care. Whether you're not in the best condition, you're outnumbered, or even if you don't want to fight, all those are your own problem. A fight is just a fight, any personal feelings on the matter are of no consequence." He told him coldly. "So even if I bitch and whine about it, it won't change a thing. I'm still going to be involved in this fight, so I might as well fight under my own terms."

Kenichi still looked as though he didn't want to accept this. "But that's not right, you can't fight an entire gang like Ragnarok by yourself and expect to win." He then looked down. "Besides… Even if I try to help you, it probably still won't help your odds."

"That's fine with me. I never intended to have you help me regardless." Shirou flat out told him.

Kenichi looked up at him surprised. "Huh?"

"Don't you remember the plan?" Shirou reminded him. "You beat Daimonji and then I beat Tsukuba, now that I'm their target, they don't even know you exist anymore. Meaning you don't have to fight at all now."

"But, that doesn't mean I have to let you do this alone!" Kenichi protested. "I did the same training as you at the dojo so I should be able to support you, I want to help."

"Is that right?" Shirou asked, unconvinced. "Then why are your legs shaking?"

As Shirou pointed out, Kenichi's legs were trembling as they always do when he loses his nerve and cracks under pressure.

"Look, Kenichi, I'll put this in a way you can understand. You're just like the kinda guy that when they start a game they brag about how they're going to get a perfect victory, but when the game ends and they fail to do so, they just brag how they got a high score acting like that was all they really wanted." Shirou explained. "In this case, even though you said you wanted to become a strong Martial Artist who protects the weak, the truth is you'd of been perfectly satisfied with just beating Daimonji and then never fighting again after that."

"N-No, that's…" Kenichi was upset by his words but couldn't deny them because he couldn't honestly say there wasn't some truth in them.

"Just don't worry about it anymore, your fight's over and your bullies are gone." Shirou reasoned with him. "So go, read books, go to your gardening club, be a normal High School student, whatever you want. And as for me, I'll do what I want; making everyone grovel at my feet." He said with an evil smirk as he walked off.

Miu went up to Kenichi and asked. "Aren't you going after him?"

Kenichi watched Shirou walking off, his back getting further and further away, but couldn't bring himself to follow, so he sadly said. "…No."

* * *

A little while passed as the sun began to set, Shirou was walking around the shopping district trying to find the members of Ragnarok that were loitering around. However, rather than finding them, he heard the sound of footsteps behind him and turned around to see a small group of four rough-looking Delinquents approach him.

_"Guess they found me before I found them."_ Shirou thought to himself. "I take it you're from Ragnarok?"

"That's right." One of them confirmed. "Kisara-sama wants to see you, so you're coming with us."

"Fine by me." Shirou replied looking pleased. "Lead the way."

* * *

Meanwhile, a little while ago at Ryozanpaku. Kenichi who was still upset was currently dressed in his training gi while watering some of the plants and let out a sad sigh. While doing that, Shigure came down from the tree that was next to him and pointing to him.

"You know what you look like?" Shigure asked. "A loser."

"Aah! Wait, what's that supposed to mean?!" Kenichi asked upset.

"She's saying you have a look of defeat about you." Akisame clarified, appearing behind him. "You felt emboldens by your great victory the other day only to now realize how insignificant you are in the grand scheme of things."

_"Wait, can he actually read my mind?"_ Kenichi thought, curiously looking at Akisame.

"Haha! mopping won't do you any good if you're so worried about him why not just go?" Akisame suggested.

"Gah! Are you crazy?!" Kenichi immediately dismissed that idea. "I can't pick a fight with Ragnarok!"

"Yet you're… Okay with letting him… Do it alone?" Shigure reminded him.

Kenichi heard her words and looked down again. "It's not that I want him to do this alone, but Shirou already made it clear that he's going to fight, so what can I do?"

"It's not exactly a hard question you know?" Akisame told him. "You've trained enough where you're at least able to beat ordinary thugs, so you can be of some help to him, the only question is of whether you want to go or not."

"But Shirou told me not to go." Kenichi brought up.

"And so you won't go just because he told you?" Akisame asked. "Are you saying you'll only do something as long as he gives you the okay?"

"It's not that…" Kenichi denied before pausing. "Maybe he was right about me, maybe I did learn Martial Arts just so I could beat Daimonji." He confessed depressed. "I made some kind of stand saying I wanted to protect others, but I never had the dedication or fortitude to actually follow through on that claim. Maybe all I really wanted was a superficial victory I could have under my belt so I could go home and call myself a winner, deep down the only one I wanted to protect was myself."

"I see, you feel conflicted because your reasons for learning Martial Arts weren't as noble as you initially believed and now you've begun to doubt yourself?" Akisame summarized before he smiled. "Kenichi, I'll admit there is truth to what he said, but before you make any final decisions, let me ask you something."

Kenichi looked up at him. "What it is?"

"If all you truly wanted was to defeat your bully and then stop after that, then why did you come back to Ryozanpaku after the fight?" Akisame asked.

This question made Kenichi stop completely in his tracks and his eyes widened as if he'd never even considered it.

"You didn't have to come back and you had no reason to anymore, yet you still kept coming to train here day after day, tell me why is that?" Akisame continued

"I… Uh, I didn't even think about it?" Kenichi admitted, unsure.

"That's right, you didn't. It already became nature enough that you didn't even need to think about coming here, no different than naturally going to school." Akisame pointed out, which surprised him again. "Kenichi, there will always be times where a Martial Artist wonders if he's doing something for the "Right" reasons or not, but doubting yourself and backing out is never the answer, instead you do what you feel is right and readily accept the outcome because it's the one that you chose."

Kenichi processed his words as he thought about what he wanted to do and what he should do, as a person's face appeared in his mind, he clenched his fists as he walked off. "Excuse me, but I have to go somewhere."

After a few minutes, he changed out of his training gi into his everyday clothes and ran off out of the dojo with a look of determination on his face. Akisame just watched him go with a small smile on his face. _"Good luck, Kenichi."_

* * *

As Shirou was being led by the members of Ragnarok to their hideout, they soon arrived at a tall building. It was an abandoned, run-down looking building that was made of concrete, was four floors tall, and all the windows were broken. It looked pretty much like the kind of place you'd see thugs hanging out in the movies. As they went inside, they went up the stairs and brought Shirou to a room on the top floor. Nobody said a word as they made their way up here, Shirou lept his hands in his pockets and kept his cool all the while.

When they entered the room, Shirou looked around to check the place out. It was a large four-walled room that was devoid of pretty much everything. Expect for a set of windows on the right wall, a worn-out punching bag, and a dozen rough-looking Delinquents. At the front of the room was a worn-down but comfortable looking chair, though what Shirou was really paying attention to was the person sitting on the chair.

She was a beautiful young girl of average height. She has fair skin, full lips, and bright green eyes. She sports a slender frame with fairly small bust size, curvy hips, and round buttocks. She also has well defined muscularly toned legs. She has shiny, unkempt red hair which she wears with a green cap. She wears a short t-shirt with an A-shirt underneath showing. The jeans she wears are rather torn on the left side while mostly torn off from the thigh down on the right side. She also wears ankle-high boots.

There was no doubt, she was Kisara.

The two of them didn't speak, they started by sizing each other up. Shirou just looked over Kisara and he immediately came to a conclusion; she was nothing like the others he'd fought from Ragnarok thus far, he paid close attention to her eyes. They were slit and sharp, like the eyes of a cat that'd already brought out its claws.

Shirou could tell just by looking at her that she was the real deal and judging by her expression, Kisara had come to the same conclusion about him. It was clear by the expression they both had that they both become interested in what the other was capable of.

"I take it you're the fabled Kisara Nanjo?" Shirou broke the ice.

"In the flesh." Kisara responded, sounding comfortable. "And you're the lone freshman that goes around crushing other Delinquents."

Shirou shrugged. "I just do what I like and that involves fighting, you of all people would understand that, right?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. That's why I have a proposition for you." Kisara slowly crosses her legs and smirks at him. "I want you to join my gang."

Shirou kept his hands in his pockets and didn't let his expression change. "I assume you don't mind me asking why?"

"Why don't I explain from the beginning?" Kisara began. "I assume you know who Ragnarok's Strongest members are?"

"A group of seven strong Delinquents that call themselves the Seven Deadly Fists." Shirou answered her.

Kisara nodded. "That's correct, but you see big things are happening within Ragnarok and so I need to increase my manpower."

"Big things?" Shirou repeated, wanting more details.

"The fists have started recruiting for a new member, in other words, the Seven Deadly Fist will soon be the Eight Deadly Fists." Kisara elaborated. "And so all executive members like myself are vying for that spot, and to make it happen I need strong guys like you to make my gang stronger."

"I see, that's interesting but you seem to be forgetting something, you haven't told me what's in it for me?" Shirou brought up. "Even if I did join a gang—Which I haven't, why should I agree to do so if it means I have to take orders from someone else?"

"Well, the alternative is saying no, don't assume you'll get out of here in one piece if that is the case." Kisara told him with a smirk while gesturing to her grunts who all looked to attack at a moment's notice. "Is that okay with you?"

"Hate to break it to you, but aside from yourself, no one in this room has a chance in hell against me, even together." Shirou confidently told her, unconcerned. "Then again, that might work too. If you really want me to join you, then you can fight me for it." He smirked back at her.

"Is that so?" Kisara stood up and pats a hand on her hip. "So if I beat you, you'll join me?"

Shirou nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, that's the deal, do you accept?"

Kisara smiled and went into a stance. "My kind of deal, let's do this."

Shirou took his hands out of his pockets and psyched himself up before he prepared to attack.

However—

"HOLD IT!"

Before either of them could begin, the sound of a shouting voice interrupted them and got the attention of everyone in the room, the one most surprised was Shirou because he recognized the voice. As they all looked towards the entrance to the room to see who it was, standing there with a look of determination was Kenichi.

"Kenichi? What are you doing?" Shirou asked surprised. "And how did you even find this place?"

"When I got to the shopping district, I saw you leaving with a few Delinquents and so I went in the same direction as all of you while staying a few steps behind so they wouldn't notice me." Kenichi explained.

Kisara looked at one of her grunts annoyed. "You got followed idiots."

He looked nervous and held his hands up. "I-I'm sorry."

"Kenichi, why'd you come?" Shirou asked honestly confused. "I thought I told you to leave this to me."

"Shirou, you were right before about me not being competed to Martial Arts and how if I could I'd of just ran away, but even if that was true before that doesn't mean I can't change now!" Kenichi declared without a doubt. "I'm not going to run from this, and I will help you fight, even if it means challenging all of Ragnarok!"

Shirou was surprised, not just by his words but by the look of conviction in his eyes, it was clear that he wasn't just saying that, Kenichi had every intention of following through on his declaration. After that, Shirou smirked. _"That's a good look he's got, he's finally starting to look like a man."_

"What a touching sentiment, such a genuine friendship." Kisara jokingly commented as she sat back down and looked towards her grunts. "Get him."

[Yeah!] They all responded as they charged towards Kenichi.

Shirou rushed in and reached Kenichi first, then the two of them began to counterattack, one of them tried to tackle Shirou but he beat him to it and punched him in the face, another one tried to punch Kenichi but he used the stepped method to get behind him and punched him in the liver, knocking him down. The two of them kept going to the offensive, easily blowing through Kisara's goons until before long, almost all of them were down.

With only three enemy Delinquents still standing, Shirou and Kenichi confident they'd pretty much won this battle, while the grunts were starting to feel nervous about this and became hesitant to attack.

Kisara then stood up again and spoke. "That's enough."

Her words brought everyone to a halt and they all looked at her.

"What do you mean 'that's enough'?" Kenichi asked, still having his guard up.

"I mean I've seen enough of this, there's no point in going on anymore." Kisara clarified with a condescending tone. "You two can go now."

"Huh?" Now Kenichi looked confused.

"So what, you're not gonna fight me?" Shirou asked, annoyed by her attitude.

Kisara just looked amused. "Settle down, I went what I said about wanting you to join me, but after seeing you fight I became interested in something. You see, I want to fight someone who's worth my time, and from the looks of things you might fit that role."

"Then why not take me on right now?" Shirou questioned her.

Kisara then looks at her fallen grunts. "I said MIGHT remember, these grunts aren't a good measuring stick to gauge your skill level. Tell me, have you heard of the Takedown Trio?"

Shirou nodded. "I've heard the rumors."

"Uh hold on, who are they?" Kenichi quietly asked, not in the know.

"They're a trio of Ragnarok members who work under Kisara, unlike most Delinquents who just use streetfighting these three use actual Martial Arts, each one uses a different style and they almost always attack as a group." Shirou explained to him. "They're the same three we saw at school earlier today."

Kenichi gasped as he remembered seeing one of them shred a piece of paper with a punch. "Those guys."

"That's right, they also answer to Koga, Ukita, and Takeda." Kisara named them. "As of right now, I plan on sicking the three of them on you, if you manage to beat them, then I'll fight you myself."

"Heh, so you're testing me?" Shirou asked, slightly amused.

"Think of it more like a challenge." Kisara responded with a smirk.

"Fine then, I accept your challenge, Kisara Nanjo." Shirou returned her smirk with his own.

After those words, Shirou turned around and walked towards the exit.

"Let's go, Kenichi." Shirou instructed him.

Kenichi quickly followed after him and they made their exit. Kisara just watched them leave, never taking her eyes off of Shirou.

* * *

After leaving the building, Shirou and Kenichi were outside, walking away and not talking as they walked. After a few minutes, Shirou decided to break the silence.

"Okay, I'll just say what we're both thinking…" Shirou proclaimed before saying it. "She was really hot."

"That not what I was thinking at all!" Kenichi loudly snapped at him.

"You weren't?" Shirou asked thinking it was odd. "What you don't like red-heads?"

"Would you take this seriously?" Kenichi asked incredulously. "After today we're not only going to have a bunch of rough Delinquents after us but some that know Martial Arts as well."

"I know that that's why I warned you to leave it to me, speaking of which—Why did you show up?" Shirou asked more curious than before. "I didn't want to bring it up in the middle of the fight, but it's weird how you suddenly decided to man up like that, so what changed your mind and made you decide to fight?"

Kenichi smiled before he answered. "Well, it was thanks to Akisame-sensei."

"What, you actually understood his crazy proverbs?" Shirou asked surprised.

"Not those!" Kenichi denied before he continued. "It's just, he helped me realize something, you were right about me only learning Martial Arts to protect myself, but just because that's the reason I started doesn't mean I should stop afterward." He then looked up at him with acceptance. "I now know for sure, I want to be a Martial Artist and I'll stick to that no matter how hard things get."

Shirou processed his words and felt satisfied with them. "In that case, you can start by helping me take out Ragnarok."

"Yeah, you got it…" Kenichi said enthusiastically before he stopped and thought about something. "Speaking of which; I still don't get why that girl just decided to let us go, I mean despite what she said, I really thought she was going to fight you back there."

"It's because there were two of us back there." Shirou began to explain. "Truth is, the whole time we were fighting those grunts, she kept her eyes focused on how we fought. In the end, because neither of us used any Martial Arts techniques, she assumed we were both hiding our strength from her and that made her unable to get a good grasp on how strong we actually were."

"But I wasn't trying to hide my strength." Kenichi pointed out. "I just don't know any techniques… Well, aside from the stepping method."

"I know, it was true for me but she had the wrong idea about you, still the misunderstanding that helped us out." Shirou told him. "In Kisara's mind, she was facing against two unknowns whose full strength she had no idea of knowing, against those odds she decided to put the fight on hold, on the other hand, if she sent some strong members of her gang to fight us she could figure out how we fight and how strong we are before taking us on herself."

"I guess that makes sense, but what if we can't beat her members?" Kenichi asked.

"Then she'll decide we aren't worth her time." Shirou answered him. "She wasn't kidding about the part where she wanted to fight someone who was worth it or the part where she was challenging me."

"But, do you think you could beat her?" Kenichi asked wanting to know.

Shirou sighed. "Well, who knows? I've never met someone I didn't think I could beat, but she's different from almost any I've fought, no doubt she's tough, even by mt standards."

_"I thought was going to say he'd win for sure, like usual?"_ Kenichi thought surprised by his answer. _"I guess Ragnarok really is strong."_

"Still though, our fights are only going to get harder and you still need a lot of work before you ready to fight more than just grunts." Shirou informed him. "You'll need to get much stronger."

"Yeah, I know." Kenichi responded before looking forward. "I'll train as hard as I can to make myself strong enough to help you beat them."

After that, both of them made their way back to the dojo.

* * *

"Well, I must say I'm impressed, Kenichi. I'm glad that you've fully committed to training yourself in Martial Arts and because that is the case, it seems like we'll be able to go into more serious training very soon…" Akisame spoke to Kenichi in a calm manner before he paused. "That doesn't mean you can slack off with your current training! Now run faster!" He yelled.

Right now Kenichi was once again running a long-distance while having tires tied to his waist along with having to carry Akisame on top of the tires, not to mention Akisame was whipping him as he ran.

"Do I look like a horse to you?!" Kenichi angrily shouted while running.

"No! A horse would run faster!" Akisame shouted as he started whipping more frantically. "Now shut your mouth and move your legs!"

"AAAHHHHHHH!" Kenichi bellowed in pain.

* * *

**And that's the chapter. As you saw, Shirou completely destroyed Tsukuba which surprised no one but Kenichi, I wanted it to be the moment where Kenichi finally realizes how amazing Shirou is considering, up until now he only knew Shirou was 'strong' but not 'how strong' he was. And yes, he's never seen him really fight because, well since Kenichi is afraid of Delinquents it's obvious he wouldn't want to be around when a fight was going on.**

**As for the talks Kenichi had in this chapter, I wanted to add a little duality in his character to help him grow as a person. Shirou told him the truth he needed to hear so he'd understand his lack of conviction and commitment and Akisame taught him he's still able to grow and he should look forward to what he can be instead of looking back at what he isn't. With those meaningful conversations, Kenichi was able to find his own resolve and chose to go into this fight instead of being forced into it against his desires, which I think is a better development for his chapter.**

**And I decided to have Shirou meet Kisara right away because I thought it was better than just endlessly beating her grunts and hoping the problem would go away, now they've officially challenged Ragnarok and the story can move to a more interesting Act. Shirou will have a real fight with Kisara at some point, but that'll come later.**

**Anyways thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, if you want more then be sure to leave a review, if you liked the story click the follow/favorite, and as always have an awesome day.**


	5. Steady Growth

**Hey everyone and welcome to this ****chapter. This chapter won't have as much action as the last one, it'll be more about character growth and slow plot progression. Though it'll still move the story forward. Hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: ****The following is a non-profit fan-based parody, History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi is owned by Funimation and Syun Matsuena, Please support the official release.**

* * *

"Shirou" Regular speech.

_"Shirou"_ Thoughts.

_**SEIKUKEN**_ Attack names.

(_Shirou_) Words said previously.

[Shirou] Words said in unison.

* * *

**Steady Growth**

* * *

It was another day at Koryuu High. But unlike any ordinary day, the students were tenser and more afraid than usual. The reason for that being the fact that a trio of Ragnarok thugs was walking down the hallway, standing death glares to any student that they saw and they had expressions on their faces that just screamed the fact that they were looking for trouble.

"Shirahama! Tsukiharu! Tell us where they are!" One of the thugs shouted as they walked.

Because Kisara said that she would send members of her group after them, many of the other groups within Ragnarok became interested and decided to try haunting them down as well, these three were among those groups.

As for Kenichi himself, he was in a nearby classroom, and currently trembling at the sight of them with a cold sweat.

"Oh, those goons are looking for me…" Kenichi said, his voice was high like every other time he was afraid. "Man, how did I get myself into this mess?"

As he snuck outside the School Building, the thugs walked passed a nearby open window and Kenichi could still hear them.

"I'll get him good, I'm gonna beat the bastard Tsukiharu down and break that stupid face of his!" One of them bragged as the other two laughed.

One of the other two added. "And then we'll go for that little piece of crap, Shirahama."

Kenichi whispered to himself. "I-I'm not really running away, I'm not a coward after all." He attempted to convince himself. "I'm just avoiding getting into a pointless conflict, with a well-timed strategic withdrawal."

But before he could scurry off—

"HEY!"

"AAaahhhh!" Kenichi shrieked when he suddenly heard that yell.

But then he realized that it came from inside the building, not only that but he recognized the voice. With that in mind, he looked through the window and saw who it was.

Standing in the hallway, blocking the path of the three Ragnarok goons was Shirou, who looked ready for a brawl.

The grunts looked pleased as one of them said. "Tsukiharu, right? We've been looking for ya?"

"Yeah, I know. Practically the whole school knows with how loud you were being." Shirou informed them, with half-lidded eyes.

"Well, word in the street is Kisara is after you." One of them said, before raising his fist. "And we wanna see why."

Shirou kept his hands in his pockets and casually walked up to them. "Well take a good look, 'cause I'm only showing you once."

Kenichi then watched from the window as Shirou proceeded to quickly beat those thus senselessly without any reserve and he cringed at the sight of it.

_"Why does it always end like this?"_ He thought to himself.

* * *

Later that day, the two of them were walking together outside the School Building. While walking, Kenichi kept his head down and groaned.

"Why did you have to do that?" Kenichi asked him, tiredly.

"What, you mean win?" Shirou asked sarcastically. "Gee, I don't know, mostly because I didn't want to get beaten to the ground."

"That's not what I meant!" Kenichi snapped at him. "We could have just avoided them and left, why'd you have to start a fight like that?"

"I have a rep you know?" Shirou answered him. "How am I supposed to make sure everyone knows not to mess with me if I can't even beat third-strings like them?"

Kenichi scratched his head. "That doesn't me you have to fight everyone."

"Man, what is with you?" Shirou asked, bothered. "What happened to all that confidence you had when you crashed Kisara's hideout?"

"This and that are completely different!" Kenichi snapped again. "Just because I'm willing to fight doesn't mean I want to fight everyone that wants a piece of me!"

"Well, I do! Hahaha!" Shirou disagreed with him, laughing.

Before long, they reached a large greenhouse on the campus and Kenichi opened the door. "Well anyway, I see you have I done with the club for today."

Shirou shrugged. "Whatever."

With that, Kenichi nodded, walked through the door, and closed it. Once inside the greenhouse, he begins watering the plants alongside follow Gardening Club member, Yuka Izumi.

Izumi is a young teenage girl of average height with long black hair she has in two braids in the back with some fringe in the front. She also wears glasses and has bright-brown eyes, she also wears the School Uniform but unlike Miu's uniform, her skirt, collar, and the cuffs around her sleeves are black.

As Kenichi kept watering the flowers, Izumi just quietly stared at him with interest. Kenichi noticed this and looked up at her.

"Is something wrong, Izumi?" Kenichi asked.

Izumi quickly shook her head. "I was just wondering why someone like you would join the Gardening Club?" She asked nervously. "It's just that, it's not exactly a popular choice around her."

Kenichi kept watering the plants as he answered. "Well, since I was a kid I've always been interested in flowers and stuff." He admitted before frowning. "But people used to pick on me and give me a hard time. They'd say "Flowers are for girls" and they'd call me lame." Then he smiled. "But I figured to heck with them, I'm gonna keep on doing what I wanna do and I don't really care what people say."

Izumi smiled at him. "You surprise me, not many people can look at it that way."

Kenichi chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well, it's easy enough to say really. But honestly, that didn't stop people r#from getting on my case. If I didn't have Shirou with me I wouldn't have been able to deal with it all."

"Is that true?" Izumi asked curiously. "I hear rumors about him all the time, I always pictured your friends as being really intimidating."

"Intimidating?" Kenichi asked slightly amused. "What kind of rumors did you hear?"

"They say he's the Strongest, meanest kid in the whole school." Izumi told him. "Everyone says he the most ruthless fighter in town that loves beating people up."

"Right…" A drop of sweat fell from the back of his head. "Well, I admit he can be a little rough sometimes, but he's really a decent guy." He informed her. "He's always had my back and he never lets rumors bother him."

Izumi let out a small laugh. "Well, he's lucky to have a friend who knows him so well."

"Really?" Kenichi asked with a smile. "Usually it feels more like I'm the lucky one." He then turned back to the plants. "And beating people up for fun? Even if he beats up Delinquents, there's no way Shirou does stuff like that?"

* * *

BASH!

"Gah!"

Outside the entrance to the School Building, Shirou had just finished beating down another pair of Ragnarok members who tried their luck against him. They were now laying on the ground as Shirou took a deep breath and smirked.

"There's nothing I love more than seeing my enemies bleed." He said to himself.

He then felt a dark and disgusting presence approaching as he turned around and saw the source.

"There's my best friend in the world!" Niijima approached him. "I've been looking, you aren't easy to find!"

"I disagree, just look for the sound of screaming chumps and I'll be there." Shirou lazily argued. "Besides that, have you been spreading more rumors around the school?"

"Maybe I have and maybe I haven't, but what difference does it make to you?" Niijima casually brushed off.

"These guys started coming after me and Kenichi way too soon." Shirou pointed out. "No one but you could have spread the word that fast, so admit it."

Niijima shrugged. "I just wanted everyone to know the good word, not only did you pick a fight with the whole Ragnarok gang but Kenichi did as well. That was too juicy not to spread around." He then got closer to him. "Besides I have some new information that I'm sure you'd love to hear about."

Shirou looked interested. "Is it legit?"

Niijima took out a piece of paper and smiled evilly. "Isn't it always?"

Shirou nodded. "Fine, let me see it."

Niijima handed the piece of paper to Shirou and once he looked it over, his eyes widened in shock but mostly confusion. The paper was a printed handout sheet of a long schedule, it was also titled "Kenichi Shirahama Activity Schedule" with a list of all of the places Kenichi usually goes to as well as the times of the day when he goes to those places.

"What the Hell is this?" Shirou asked him.

Niijima shook his head. "This time I have no idea. All I now is some weird old guy in a hat was passing these around to everyone at school who would take them, including those Ragnarok thugs."

"Wait, did this old guy have a green shirt and long mustache?" Shirou asked.

Niijima nodded. "Yeah, you saw him too?"

_"Kensei?"_ Shirou thought, completely lost. _"So the Master of Ryozanpaku are behind this? What for?" He then put the sheet of paper in his bag. "Well, guess I'll just have to ask them after school."_

"Hey, Shirou!"

Shirou and Niijima looked to see Miu walking up to them with a wave.

"Miu?" Shirou spoke as she stopped in front of him.

"Well, if it isn't Miu." Niijima immediately approached her. "What brings you here?"

"Hello there, Niijima, how have you been." Miu happily greeted him before turning to Shirou. "I was wondering if you and Kenichi want to walk home together after school?"

"Considering we're all going to the dojo after school, I'd think it'd be obvious the answer is yes." Shirou pointed out.

Miu clapped her hands together. "That's great, I'll go tell Kenichi."

After saying that she ran off, Niijima then proceeded to put his arm on Shirou's shoulder. "Hey man, be honest with me, are you attempt to get in good with her?"

"If you're looking for more "juicy details", you're looking in the wrong place." Shirou flat out told him. "Right now I'm more concerned about Ragnarok then anything else."

Niijima then stepped back. "Heh, I figured you'd say that. The only thing you ever have on your mind is fighting. But do me a favor and stay friends with her, she might be useful to me in the future." He then turned and walked away himself. "I'll fill you in if any more intel comes up."

"That guy." Shirou said to himself as he watched him leave. "He's useful but he makes me sick sometimes."

* * *

After school, the three of them made their way to Ryozanpaku and began their training once again. While Kenichiwas training with Apachai, Shirou was training with Kensei. The training was pretty standard, Kensei told Shirou to try to land a hit on him. Sadly considering the opponent was Kensei, that was a near-impossible task.

"Ha!" Shirou threw another punch.

Kensei easily dodged it by standing just an inch out of his reach.

"You'll have to keep trying, after all, that kind of hit will never land." Kensei told him, clearly having fun. "If this were a real fight I could have countered you twelve different times on that last hit alone."

"I get it, you're stupidly fast." Shirou replied irritated.

"Oh don't be upset, you just have to try to land a single blow, that shouldn't be too hard." Kensei continued as he moved side-to-side.

Shirou then loosened both of his fists and snapped his punches forward, swiftly brought them back, and punched again. Stressing speed rather than power right now, Shirou was able to fire a much large number of punches with much greater speed. Despite that, Kensei was still dodging each blow with ease.

Then with great finesse, Shirou pivoted his feet to turn around and kick out at the space right behind him. At the same time, Kensei appeared at that same spot and looked as though he was going to get hit by that kick. However, he still managed to dodge without trouble.

"You figured it out, excellent work." Kensei praised. "But I have to admit I made it a little obvious for you."

"Yeah, the classic "Vanishing from sight and appearing behind your opponent" trick." Shirou noted. "And yet, I still missed."

"True, you accurately guessed by my next move and timed your counterattack perfectly, however you still failed to hit me. That's because even if you predict your opponent's moves and time your counter perfectly if your opponent is still faster than you, they can avoid it." Kensei explained the process to him. "But, I can't really blame you since you're facing me."

"I've faced guys who have good footwork before, but honestly you're the first guy I've seen who stressed speed before style this much." Shirou admitted.

"Heh, you should go to China one of these days, there's a fair number of slick fighters like me." Kensei said humorously before placing his hands behind his back again. "Now, once more from the top.

POW!

"Gugh!"

Before they could continue, both of them heard the familiar cry of pain a few feet away. At that point, they along with the other denizens of Ryozanpaku ran over to see what had happened and immediately arrive at the sight over Kenichi flat on his back on the ground with an apologetic Apachai standing over him.

"What happened this time?" Akisame asked as though this was a regular thing.

"Apa, we training, but Kenichi no like dodging for some reason." Apachai explained. "Apachai is make easy and threw slow punch."

"Apachai, any punch that you think is slow is probably blindingly fast for Kenichi." Kensei told him.

Miu came over with a bucket of water and spilled it over his head. Thus waking him up. "Ah, am I still alive?"

"So sorry about that, Kenichi." Apachai told him with a smile. "Next time, Apachai promises to give you break."

_"He broke me pretty good this time~"_ Kenichi inwardly whined.

"Stop screwing around and get up kid." Sakaki instructed him.

"If you lay on the ground all day, there won't be any time left for us to train you." Kensei reminded him.

As Kenichi was on the ground, he though. _"I don't get it, these guys are Masters, I get why they want to train Shirou but why are they so eager to train me?"_ He wondered. _"Could it be?!"_ He became hopeful and asked. "Does this mean you think I could be a great Martial Artist like all of you?"

[No.] Sakaki, Kensei, and Akisame all said in unison.

Apachai just stood silent and Shigure simply looked away.

"Aaaahhh! I can't believe you answered that in sync!" Kenichi cried out as he untied the belt of his gi, placed it over a nearby tree branch, and stood in a position to hang himself while Miu held him back. "I get it! I'm awful! I'm a loser!"

CHOP!

Shirou chopped him on the head to make him stop. "You're also a drama-queen."

"What does that matter!? I'm gonna get killed by those thugs anyway so I might as well end it right NOOWWW!" Kenichi continued to whine.

CHOP!

Shirou chopped him again which knocked his head down. "If you don't shut up, I'll kill you right now." He told him annoyed by his whining.

"You know, no one beats you at beating yourself kid." Sakaki commented before drinking more alcohol. "So you got self-defeat down to an art, you're gonna have to fight and now you're scared about it, so what?" He then gave the training post a hard punch. "Best thing you can do at a time like that is, punch a pole." He punched again. "Punch it hard, punch those fears square in the face. Then when you get some confidence back you punch again. You punch that pole until you can't anymore." He then stopped. "'Cause with stuff hits the fan, your training is the one thing you can count on."

"And if, it's not enough?" Kenichi quietly asked.

"Then you lose, but what of it?" Sakaki asked rhetorically. "Martial Arts isn't just about getting strong, it's about learning to face your fears. You do that and the rest is easy."

"Heh, nice speech, did you just come up with that or have you be practicing?" Shirou jokingly asked.

"Ha, just try and come up with a better speech than me, punk." Sakaki joked back.

Kenichi got back up. "Y-Yeah but what if—"

Sakaki cut him off. "Enough with the questions. Let's get back to doing something useful. Now look, sometimes it doesn't matter how mentally prepared you are, when the real fight comes you still might find that your punches aren't packing the power you need."

Kenichi nodded. "Right."

Sakaki picked up his bottle of alcohol again. "If you end up in that situation, don't feel pressured to form a fist. Instead of clenching up, hold your hand out like this." He showed him an unclenched fist and threw his bottle up in the air. "Nice and easy." When the bottle came back down, Sakaki punched it with his fist and it shattered into pieces. "Keep it loose like a whip and aim for the teeth."

Kenichi still looked unsure. "If I did, couldn't I end up breaking the other guy's jaw?"

Shirou shook his head. "Nah, if you wanna break a jaw then aim for the chin."

"And either way, if it does break that's how you know you're doing it right, Hahaha!" Sakaki laughed and patted Keichi on the back.

* * *

After finishing their discussion, Kenichi now stood in front of the training post and kept punching the pole he was instructed to. However, it was clear by the look on his face that he was clearly lacking any kind of motivation or drive.

Shirou approached him and decided to ask the obvious.

"Alright, what's wrong?" He questioned Kenichi. "I can tell by the look on your face that your heart isn't into it."

Kenichi stopped punching. "Well, I do want to become stronger but I don't want to fight anyone, I hate violence."

Shirou looked at him with half-lidded eyes. "What you say contradicts everything you've done until now. If you hate violence, why did you sign up for a Karate club? Why did you join this dojo? Why did you agree to fight Ragnarok?" He listed.

"I get it doesn't seem to make sense, but still." Kenichi looked down. "All I really wanted was to learn self-defense, just to improve my self-esteem." He admitted. "I still want to help you against Ragnarok but it's like not I'll suddenly like fighting and want to beat everyone around me."

"I just don't get what you're so afraid of?" Shirou admitted. "You act like you've already lost a fight that hasn't even started, even though you're more than strong enough to beat those losers from this morning."

"Really? You think so?" Kenichi asked, very excited. "After so much verbal abuse from the Masters, I thought I'd never hear any praise today."

As he got closer, Shirou pushed him back a bit. "Too close. Anyway, I'm not praising you, I'm just telling you the truth. Considering all the training we've been doing, guys like them shouldn't be a problem anymore. If your legs would stop shaking and you'd stop being so pessimistic you'd see that."

"Well yeah, but." Kenichi turned back to the training pole. "I'd be nice if I could have at least _some_ time where I didn't always have to worry about Delinquents being after me. I don't know if I'll be able to deal with this the same way that you do."

Shirou was about to say something else, but then he noticed Kensei, Sakaki, and Akisame by the sliding door in the dojo and chatting amongst themselves with suspicious-looking grins on their faces. Shirou frowned at that.

Shirou turned to head for the dojo. "We'll talk more later."

"Ah, okay?" Kenichi responded before he went back to punching.

* * *

_(A few seconds ago)_

While Shirou and Kenichi were talking, Kensei, Sakaki, and Akisame were chatting amongst themselves in the dojo by the porch.

"At this rate, it seems our young Disciple is going to have some difficulty finishing what he started." Kensei noticed.

"Indeed." Akisame agreed.

"The kid needs to suck it up and find some courage." Sakaki pointed out.

"Well, maybe we can help?" Akisame wondered.

As Kenichi finished talking with Shirou and Shirou walked away, Miu went up to Kenichi and handed him a towel to wipe off his sweat. He looked happy just to see her.

When the Masters saw that, their eyes lit up.

"That's it." Akisame hatched a plan.

"Oh yeah." Sakaki had the same idea.

"I think this is going to be fun." Kensei added, looking forward to it.

"Hey."

A sudden voice made them tense up for a second before they looked and saw Shirou standing before them.

He looked at them aloof. "What the Hell do you guys think you're doing?"

"Hey, it's rude the sneak up on people you know?" Kensei complained.

"Yeah well, it's also rude to stare at someone from a distance and talk behind their back you know?" Shirou shot back at them. "Now what are you planning?"

"Uh, what makes you think we're planning anything?" Sakaki asked, but he wasn't very convincing considering he was scratching his cheek and looking away.

"Call it a hunch but if guys like you were grinning together like that it'd be weird if you weren't up to something." Shirou bluntly told them. "So what's going on?"

"You shouldn't be so suspicious." Akisame advised him. "We're not up to anything bad, we're just thinking of a way to help Kenichi gain more confidence."

"That's right, all we want is to help Kenichi." Kensei agreed.

"So you're just trying to help Kenichi?" Shirou asked, not convinced as he pulled out the sheet of paper Niijima gave him. "And is _this_ also your idea of helping?"

"Where'd you get that?" Kensei asked surprised.

"I got it from asked from someone who told me an old man in a hat was passing it around." Shirou told him like he was an idiot.

"I'm not old." Kensei mumbled.

"What kind of hair-brained scheme are piloting?" Shirou questioned them again.

"Very well, you deserve to know the truth, it was actually my idea." Akisame confessed. "Think of it as a way kick start Kenichi's motivation."

"We're simply trying to take a more drastic approach in strengthening his mentality." Kensei added. "It's like the Lioness throwing her cub off a cliff to make him stronger, it may be cruel but it does work."

"Yeah, except you can't train people like their animals and while Kenichi might be a cub he's definitely no lion." Shirou argued with them. "Right now it just feels like you're needlessly putting more pressure on him."

"It might look like that now, but think back to this morning." Sakaki pointed out. "Even if he says he'll fight, he still has it in his mind that he can just run away if he doesn't _technically_ have to fight. If he keeps that up, it'll eventually become a bad habit and we're making sure that doesn't happen."

Shirou thought about it. "You may have a point, but trying to force him into fights all day every day is hardly a good way to build up mental fortitude, in fact, it has a better chance of doing the opposite."

"That's the conclusion we've come to as well." Akisame told him. "That's why we've decided to try the carrot instead of the stick."

"And that means what exactly?" Shirou asked, not figuring out their idea.

"Just watch, it'll make sense in a second." Sakaki assured him.

"And also, don't tell Kenichi about this." Kensei requested of him. "He can't be aware of our inferences otherwise this will all go to waste. So make sure not to say a word."

Shirou contemplated whether he should just tell Kenichi or not. But after giving it some thought, he figured since they actually have a plan and he can't say for certain that he "won't" work since they haven't tried it yet, they at least deserve the benefit of the doubt. And so he agreed to keep it a secret.

* * *

As Kenichi kept punching the pole and Miu stood beside him, Akisame, Sakaki, and Kensei walked up to them.

"Kenichi!" He addressed him.

"Oh, right!" Kenichi nodded before punching faster. "Keep. Punching. The. Pole."

"Why don't you and Miu go on a little date together this Sunday?" Akisame suggested.

Kenichi stopped and looked surprised. "What?"

Miu just looked confused. "…What?" She asked as if she heard something stupid.

"What part of "go on a date" don't you understand?" Sakaki asked.

"A-A real date?" Kenichi nervously asked. "You mean like just the two of us?"

Akisame nodded. "Of course."

"You bet we'll go!" Kenichi cheered throwing his hands up in the air. "Alright! Hahahaha!" He then started jumping around like an excited rabbit on caffeine. "This is greeeaat!"

Watching from a distance, Shirou facepalmed at seeing Kenichi's reaction. "This is hard to watch."

Unfortunately, in his excitement, Kenichi went behind Miu and in usual Miu fashion, she grabbed him and Judo flipped him over her shoulder, slamming him into the ground.

"Gah!" Kenichi groaned, flat on his back. "But. We. Don't. Have to."

"Sorry, it's a reflex!" Miu explained, regretful at her action. "You shouldn't sneak up behind me."

Kenichi painfully gave her a thumbs up. "Yeah, got it." He then got up. "So, we're still going on the date, right?" He asked feeling hopeful. "I'm up for it if you are."

Miu simply smiled but looked both uncomfortable and unsure. Shirou could clearly see that and thought. _"If this were a Slice of Life Anime, this would be the part where the main character gets rejected."_

Before Miu could answer though, Akisame stepped forward with two envelopes. "And what'd you know, I happen to have two free tickets to the movies."

Miu still looked unsure. "That's very nice, but…"

"Go on! Take em!" Sakaki urged her.

"You kids deserve a little fun." Kensei added.

"Sure—" Miu sounded like she wanted to say more.

But before she could, Kenichi cut her off. "Alright!" He cheered again. "She said yes! We're going to the movies!"

"Not so fast kid, you've still got punching to do." Sakaki reminded him.

"Right!" Kenichi started punching with more enthusiasm.

Shirou cringed after watching all that. "Can't he get a clue?" He asked no one. "They basically railroaded her into going and it's obvious she's not 100% on all this." He then walked away. "How can anyone be _that_ desperate over some girl?"

He then stopped when he was in front of Apachai who seemed to be watching a trial of ants go by.

"Hey, Apachai!" Shirou got his attention. "Let's do some training."

"APA!" Apachai cheered, happy at that idea.

* * *

Later that day, as the sun went down and day turned to night, Shirou had returned home and was currently sitting at the dining room table in his house enjoying a meal with his younger brother, Haruto. While they were eating, Shirou explained the day's events to him.

"And now they Kenichi and Miu to go on a date." Shirou finished.

Haruto raised a brow. "But, how exactly is that going to teach him courage?"

"I can never understand what those nutjobs are thinking." Shirou replied.

"Brother, aren't you going to tell Kenichi?" Haruto asked.

"About the schedule or how Miu's only going on the date because she thinks she has to?" Shirou guessed which he meant.

"Both." Haruto answered.

"I'll until the date ends before the first, as for the second." Shirou sighed before he continued. "I get the feeling that even if I did tell him that, he'd consider the fact that the date is happening at all a victory."

Haruto thought about it. "…That does sound like him."

"Aside from all that, I just wish he'd stop being so damn negative all the time." Shirou complained. "Kenichi was brimming with confidence even when he was staring down Kisara and yet he still can't stop himself from running and hiding from ordinary Delinquents, it makes no sense."

"Hmm, actually it makes sense if you think about it." Haruto argued, he then got up and picked up a bunch of utensils, placed them on the table, and picked up a spoon. "Imagine if you will, this is Kenichi."

"Kenichi's a spoon?" Shirou asked confused.

"Just pretend it's a stick." Haruto requested with a sigh. "This is a long explanation."

"Alright, go on." Shirou responded.

"A person's entire personality is something they build up over the course of their life, and after sixteen years, Kenichi has already created his personality, regardless of what it is, it's unrealistic to believe it could change completely over the course of a day." Haruto explained before placing the spoon down. "Creating a new personality is like a bird making a nest, it has to be done one stick at a time. The time Kenichi confronted Ragnarok to help you was him placing down the first stick."

"True, I guess it would be weird for him to suddenly be brave after one fight." Shirou admitted, gracing the metaphor.

"That's right, he was able to gain the first stick because he was very emotional at the time and was able to fight through his fears. However, after the emotional moment was over and he had time to calm down and look back on it, he unconsciously went back to normal, in this case being someone who's afraid of Delinquents and hates violence." Haruto continued his explanation. "Though he might be willing to fight again if his emotions are high like before. But to truly solidify his mentality he needs another important moment, that'll be the second stick." He picked up a fork and placed it beside the spoon. "Until then, he's just the Kenichi who's willing to fight if his friend needs him but would prefer to run away."

"But what could possibly make him as emotional as before?" Shirou wondering, thinking it over. "That was a real, anything goes situation, it's not like it happens every day."

"I know it's hard to figure out, but considering you're trying to fix his mentality, it only makes sense that it wouldn't be easy." Haruto pointed out.

"I guess you have a point." Shirou noted.

Haruto started arranging the rest of the utensils. "This is a process that'll take a long time to get done. There might be times where certain events try to get in the way o his growth, and times where his personality temporarily regresses. But give him enough time and enough opportunities to grow and eventually, he'll mature into someone stronger and more confident than his current self." As he finished talking, the utensils were now formed like a bird's nest.

Shirou thought about that theory. _"It's possible that the Master came to a similar conclusion, that might be why they're trying to force him to fight as much as possible. But then, what reason could they have for having him go on a date with Miu?"_ He wondered.

"By the way." Haruto interrupted his thoughts. "Where exactly are they going on their date?"

"Akisame had tickets prepared and told them to go see a movie." Shirou told him. "It's happening on Sunday."

"And what are you going to be doing then?" Haruto asked.

Shirou leaned back on his chair. "Apparently I have that day off."

Haruto sat up higher. "In that case, let's go somewhere fun on Sunday." He suggested. "How about we go to the Amusement Park on that day."

Shirou considered that idea, then he shrugged. "Why not, it'd be a crime not to enjoy a day off. I'll make it my cheat day too."

Haruto became excited. "Alright, this is gonna be great."

_"I'll worry about Ragnarok later."_ Shirou thought before getting up from his seat.

* * *

A few days went by and before long it was Sunday morning. Over the course of the week, Kenichi became much more enthusiastic and carefree whether it was school or training, and when the day came for his date, he left to go to the movies with Miu with a comically big smile on his face.

Meanwhile, Shirou and Haruto also left to go enjoy their day off. Right now they had just walked out of their front door and both of them were wearing their usual attire. As they made their way to the train station, board the train, and sat down, Shirou thought about some things the whole time, Haruto noticed that and asked.

"Hey, Brother, what are you thinking about that's making you so silent?" Haruto asked him.

"I'm just curious if the Masters are going so far to get Kenichi to fight, what are the odds they'll leak the details of the date?" Shirou brought up. "After all, it sounds like the kinda thing they would do."

"There shouldn't be anything to worry about, after all, Miu's with him." Haruto pointed out.

"That in of itself is also a problem, how's he going to learn how to grow a pair if Miu does all the fighting?" Shirou argued.

"In that case, there's also the chance that if other thugs do show up and he sees them, he might just ditch the movie and hide somewhere else." Haruto also guessed.

"If that happens then—"

RING! RING!

Shirou was interrupted by the sound of a ring and he reached into his pocket to take out the source; His cellphone. "Ah, a phone call." He answered it. "Hello?"

_{Hey there old buddy of mine!_} He familiar and disgusting voice spoke on the other line.

Shirou just looked fed up. "What do you want?"

_{It's not what I want, it's what I know. Do you know where Kenichi is right now?}_ Niijima asked humorously.

"Yeah, he's on a date with Miu." Shirou answered.

_{Heh, you're no fun, I was hoping to surprise you.}_ Niijima said with disappointment.

"I am surprised. How do you know about this?"

_{Because I saw them, of course. I was on the train heading in the same location and saw them enter. But the moment Kenichi saw me he just waited for the next stop, grabbed Miu and ran off as fast as he could, talk about a cold shoulder am I right?}_

"Considering it was you, I don't have a hard time picturing it."

_{Ah whatever, anyways I was calling to let you know where they're planning to go.}_

"And why do you want to tell me that?"

_{Haha! Because if I fight breaks out then things might get interesting, and you two are in the same place and on the off chance that you run into trouble which leads into a fight, Kenichi won't have the chance to run away this time!}_

"You know, you're a real piece of crap sometimes."

_{Hey, I am what I am.}_

"Just tell me where they're going."

_{He got off the train one stop earlier than I did which means he's still probably on his way right now. So I'm going to wait for him outside the theater.}_

Shirou paused when he heard that. "…I see."

_{Well, I see you in a little while.}_

BEEP!

After that last line, Niijima hung up and ended the call. After that, Shirou put his phone away.

"Hey, who was that?" Haruto asked.

"Well, apparently we were both wrong." Shirou started, before elaborating. "He neither ran away from thugs at the movies nor did Miu beat them for him. He ran into Niijima on the train and decided to stop somewhere else."

"What?" Haruto asked surprised before thinking about it. "Well, I can't blame him for wanting to avoid Niijima."

At that point, the train stopped and the train doors opened. "Well, if the only thing waiting for him there is Niijima, then he should be fine. Let's go."

The train had arrived at their stop and so Shirou and Haruto got up from their seats and got off the train.

* * *

Not long after leaving the train station. Both the Tsukiharu Brothers were walking down the street, passing by a few people when suddenly they noticed something strange. Sitting, crouched down with his back against a wall was a man dressed in a clown suit with a very sad look on his face.

"Huh, a sad clown?" Shirou noticed. "You don't see that every day."

As they approached him, Haruto asked. "Hey, clown, why so sad?"

The clown looked up and noticed them before he spoke. "Oh, you probably weren't around to see it." He sounded depressed. "I was just doing my act, performing on the street like usual when all of a sudden, some stranger showed up and upstaged me."

"A stranger?" Shirou repeated.

"Yeah, some random teenage girl." The clown explained before he became upset. "I was just juggling when she just waltzed right in and juggled with one hand whilst using the other hand to down a full-on hand-stand. How am I supposed to compete with that?!" He cried out.

"A teenage girl?" Haruto wondered before he thought of something and looked over to his Brother. "You don't think?"

"There's only one girl I can think of who _could_ do that." Shirou came to the same conclusion.

After that, they left the clown and kept on walking. After walking for a little bit longer, they arrived near a gaming-arcade but surprisingly enough there was a crowd forming around the entrance as if something strange had happened inside.

Feeling curious, the two Brother went up to the crowd and Shirou tapped the shoulder of one of the people there to get his attention.

"Hey, mind explaining what happened here?" Shirou questioned him. "Why's everyone gathering around a door?"

"Something crazy happened inside." The guy started to explain. "Some girl came in and went up to the arcade game where you punch a target to test your score. But the girl kept punching the machine like crazy and in just a few seconds the machine just broke." He told them with surprise. "After that, the guy she was with grabbed her and ran off, it happened just a few minutes ago."

After hearing that, both Shirou and Haruto looked at each other and both knew that they arrived at the same conclusion.

"This time, there's no doubt about it." Shirou noted.

Haruto nodded. "Yep, there's only one girl who _would_ do something like that."

They both looked and talked as if they were describing an idiot.

"Let's just go." Shirou decided.

"Right." Haruto agreed.

With that, they immediately took their leave.

* * *

It wasn't long until they reached the Amusement Park without running into any other strange distraction along the way. They went on rides, enjoyed snacks at some of the booths, and all in all, enjoyed themselves. After a while, they were walking around, trying to figure out what to do next.

"That had to be the second biggest rollercoaster I've ever ridden, but it was good enough." Shirou shrugged.

Haruto chuckled. "Anyone ever tell you that you're too critical?"

"I don't think my standards are unreasonable." Shirou argued. "And if anyone says otherwise, I'll deny it."

"Anyways, what should we go on next?" Haruto wondered, looking around.

"Shirou?!"

A voice called out to him that made both of the Tsukiharu Brothers look. They quickly saw the owner of said voice sitting on a nearby bench and waving to them, it was Miu.

Miu was dressed more casually than usual. Right now she was wearing a bright pink sleeveless dress along with a white sleeveless jacket, she also had on black leggings and red dress shoes.

"What the… Miu?" Shirou addressed her surprised.

"Huh, so that's what she looks like without glasses or braids." Haruto took a good look at her. "It's like she's a completely different person."

Miu approached him. "What are you doing here?"

"What a… What do you mean what am _I_ doing here? Why aren't you at the movies?" Shirou asked, but he could already guess.

"Kenichi said he was hungry so went to a takeout place." Miu explained. "After that, we went to a few other places before finally coming here."

"How far away was he planning on going?" Shirou mumbled under his breath.

"Huh?"

Speaking of Kenichi, they hear his voice next and see him standing close by holding two cups of a drink. Kenichi was wearing a light blue open short-sleeved jacket on top of a yellow shirt, he also wore dark grey pants and black and blue shoes.

Kenichi walked up to the group. "Wait, what are you guys doing here?"

"I think you're the one who needs to answer that question." Shirou told him.

Miu looked towards Haruto as if she just noticed him. "By the way, who's this with you?"

"Oh yeah, you've never officially met. This is my Younger Brother, Haruto." Shirou introduced him.

Haruto smiled and nodded. "Nice to meet you."

"You have a little Brother? That's so cute." Miu admitted with a happy expression. "He looks like a smaller version of you."

"Who are you calling small?" Haruto grumbled annoyed like he was just insulted.

"I'm Miu Furinji." Miu introduced herself. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Yeah, but I've seen you once before." Haruto informed her. "I saw you in the park one night with Kenichi while he kept jumping at you like he was trying to harass you."

Miu remembered that night with amusement. "Yeah, we were training back then."

"Wait, you saw us then?" Kenichi asked, not knowing that. Then Haruto's words just sunk in. "Hold on! Is _that_ what it looked like a was doing?!" He asked, clearly upset.

"Forget stupid stuff like that." Shirou interrupted him. "Why are you guys at this Amusement Park?"

Kenichi leaned in so only Shirou could hear. "Well, I saw Niijima in front of the movie theater and knew he was going to ruin my date if we ran into him, soI decided to take Miu somewhere else."

Shirou stepped back. "I get that, but how did that lead to you guys coming here?"

"Well, Miu's never been to a lot of places in town because she's always taking care of things at the dojo." Kenichi explained before smiling. "So I wanted her to have a really fun time today by taking her to a lot of fun places."

"We know, we saw the clown and wrecked arcade game on the way here." Haruto informed him.

Miu smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I just got a bit carried away." Miu then clapped her hands and thought of something. "Oh, why don't you two hang out with us?"

"Huh?" Kenichi gasped, clearly not expecting that.

Haruto seemed okay with it. "Sure, why not?"

Shirou shrugged. "Fine by me."

"Hold on, wait!" Kenichi attempted to object. "Miu, this is a date remember? Shouldn't it just be the two of us?"

"Yeah but, you said we were gonna have more fun than ever day? And won't it be more fun if all our friends were here?" Miu asked, not seeing the problem.

"Gah!" Kenichi cried out. "She doesn't care about the date at all nor is she even a little interested in me!" He whined.

"I thought that was obvious?" Haruto noted.

"To everyone but him." Shirou clarified.

Kenichi snared at him. "Would it kill you to NOT take a crack at me every chance you get?"

"Then stop making an ass of yourself." Shirou replied.

"So anyway, is there any ride in particular that you want to go on?" Haruto asked Miu.

"Well…" Miu looked around as she trailed off.

However, it was clear to see that her eyes were drawn to one ride in particular. That being a nearby Merry-go-round. She then looked down before she looked up and said.

"Ah, oh I'm sorry, I kinda spaced out for a second."

"Ah, let me guess, you've never been to an Amusement Park either, have you?" Kenichi guessed.

"You haven't?" Shirou asked.

"No, I haven't." Miu admitted. "Granpa never had a chance to take me, we were too busy training every day." She then sounded upset. "Sometimes I feel like I missed out, I would've loved to try a ride like that just once."

"You feel like you missed out, huh?" Shirou repeated with some interest. "I can't exactly say I agree, but I think I can relate."

That got both Kenichi and Miu's attention and she asked. "What do you mean?"

Shirou leaned back against a tree and sighed. "I guess I never really told you guys, have I? Truth is, I also traveled around ever since I was a kid, back during the time I was being trained by my Dad."

Kenichi became surprised and asked. "Wait, you mean back when your family moved away when we were kids, it's because you guys left to go travel all over Japan?"

"Not exactly." Haruto told him, before correcting him. "The thing is, we didn't travel around Japan, we went to places outside of Japan as well."

Now both Kenichi and Miu's eyes widened, but the Kenichi remembered something.

_(Still though, Apachai wasn't just strong and fast, his skill and Technique were flawless." Shirou pondered on it. "Even in Thailand I never met anyone that good.)_

_(Yeah…" Kenichi agreed, before zoning in on the main thing he said. "Wait, you've been to Thailand?!)_

_(My family stayed there for a short period, but that's a story for another time." Shirou told him.)_

_(Kenichi was still curious but accepted his response.)_

"That's right, you said you've been to Thailand before." Kenichi recalled.

"Not just Thailand, we also went to Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, heck we even spent some time in Mexico and England." Shirou listed down. "Never got to go to China though, pity I really wanted to see it."

"That's crazy, you actually went to all of those places?" Kenichi asked, sounding impressed. "Why?"

"I told my Dad I wanted to learn how to fight and when he heard how serious I was, he said "let's go on a trip" after that, with every new place we went to, there were people there that he knew who assisted him in training me or teaching me different styles." Shirou explained, remembering those days. "MMA is all about fighting with any style you know and the Old Man wanted to teach me all the styles and disciplines he thought I needed to know."

"So you were trained by your Dad just like how Grandpa trained me?" Miu asked, not knowing this.

"Not exactly, my Dad's way of training someone was different than those of Ryozanpaku." Shirou confessed. "He prefers to start small and then work his way up in terms of training. Plus in each place we went to, there were always a lot of things for me to learn so even though we moved around a lot, we always stayed in one place long enough to at least get used to it."

"And every second of every day wasn't spent training, there were days where we just enjoyed the sights or went to places for fun." Haruto added. "That's why this isn't our first time at an Amusement Park. But honestly, they're all pretty much the same no matter where you go."

"Huh, I had no idea you grew up like that." Miu spoke before she thought to herself. _"This explains so much though, I knew he wasn't trained by ordinary methods, but to think that this was the case. Who knows what kind of Martial Artists he's met over the years and what they could've taught him."_

Kenichi then asked. "Wait a second, Haruto. You were there too, did you also go through the same training as Shirou?"

"Not at first." Haruto admitted. "In the beginning, I just watched him training, but after two years of traveling, I decided I wanted to join in. I don't know as much as my Brother, but…" He paused then looked a little confident. "I'm pretty sure I could hold my own in a fight."

"Back to what I was saying before." Shirou reentered the conversation. "While I can somewhat understand how you feel, I can't say I agree."

"You mean about how I said I felt like I missed out?" Miu asked.

Shirou nodded. "While it's true we may not have been able to enjoy some of the simpler things in life like everything else, the way I see it we got something out of it that I say is pretty great in it of itself. And being able to fight." He reasoned.

"You mean Martial Arts?" Miu asked for confirmation.

"I can't speak for the rest of you, but I've never regretted being taught how to fight or becoming a fighter. After all, remember that day we first met?" Shirou brought up.

Miu became confused. "You mean on the way to school?"

Shirou shook his head. "No, I mean what happened after school against those thugs."

Miu's eyes widened as she remembered. "Oh yeah, but when we fought those guys who were harassing the old man."

"Exactly, remember how those guys just did whatever they wanted and how everyone saw it happening but just kept walking and pretended to ignore it?" Shirou reminisced. "If we never became as strong as we are now, we might have done the same. It's frustrating but if you don't know how to fight you can't do anything but be a spectator. That's why I'm glad I spent most of my life training, now any time I see something like that happen I can actually step up and do something about it. Don't you think so too?" He asked Miu.

Hearing his words made Miu think about some things, then she smiled. "Yeah, you're right. I glad that I can use the Martial Arts that Grandpa taught me to protect others like back then."

Kenichi who silently listened to all this also started to think. _"Now that I think back on it, I also did nothing back then."_ He remembered, upset. _"I was too weak to do anything back then, but now I'm a lot stronger and I'll definitely be able to do something if something like that ever happens again."_

Haruto then spoke out. "Well, the way I see it, saying you missed out isn't entirely accurate." He pointed out. "I mean, it's not like you never got to have an ordinary life. You go to High School and are part of a club, plus you're at the Amusement Park right now and you got to do a lot of other stuff today too."

"Yeah but, there was a lot I wasn't able to do as a kid." Miu pointed out.

"Miu, you're only sixteen and a 1st Year High School student." Haruto reminded her. "As far as society is concerned you're still a kid. Even if there were things you couldn't do back then, you do whatever you want now, after all, we've got all the time in the world to have fun." He said lightheartedly.

After hearing all that, Miu felt her spirits were lifted and she cheered up. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Kenichi then got up and grabbed her arm. "You bet he's right, let's do it."

"Huh?" Miu looked at him confused.

"Come on, let's go take a spin on the merry-go-round." Kenichi elaborated. "You wanna try it right? Well here's your chance. No time like the present."

"But, well the thing is, I just ah…" Miu nervously fumbled with her words.

Without waiting, Kenichi ran towards the ride while holding her arm. Already deciding for her that she was going to ride it. "When you feel like you really want to do something you should just take a leap and go for it." He told her as they ran.

Shirou and Haruto followed him and they heard Kenichi's advice.

Haruto commented. "Hey, that was actually some pretty good advice."

Shirou shrugged. "Even a broken clock can be right twice a day."

After reaching the merry-go-round, Kenichi and Miu step onto it while Shirou and Haruto stand next to the ride and watch them. Miu sits on one of the horses, smiling while still seeming flustered.

"Don't be scared, there's really nothing to worry about." Kenichi reassured her on a nearby horse.

"Yeah, okay." Miu responded, more at ease.

The merry-go-round soon started moving and Kenichi and Miu were going around on their horses. As they were going around, Kenichi looked to Miu.

_"These kid's rides can be pretty boring, I hope she's not disappointed."_ Kenichi thought.

Contrary to his thoughts though, Miu looked relaxed and looked over to the side to see a small child who was standing next to the ride watch her ride the merry-go-round. She the child, Miu waved to her and the child smiled and waved back.

Seeing that Haruto thought of something.

"Miu!" Haruto called out to get her attention.

When she looked at him, both Haruto and Shirou waved to Miu as well, this made her even happier as she thought. _"Wow, so this is what it feels like to finally be the one waving from this side of the ride."_

Seeing her smile also made Kenichi happy. _"It's great, she looks like she's having fun."_

Shirou also smiled a little, but he tried not to show it. _"I guess this is okay every once in a while."_

* * *

After they got off the merry-go-round, Miu had decided she wanted to go back to the theater and watch the movie she and Kenichi were supposed to go to for their date. The Tsukiharu Brothers decided to go with them and now the group of four were walking down the sidewalk towards the movie theater.

"Are you positive you still want to see that movie?" Kenichi asked her, distraught.

"Yeah, besides aren't you the one who told me if I really wanted to do something I should just do it?" Miu happily reminded him.

Kenichi groaned and lowered his head. "Yeah."

Shirou closed in on him and asked loud enough only for him to hear. "Why are so against going to the movies?"

"Because I know that Niijima is there." Kenichi answered, equally as quiet. "And now we're probably going to have to dodge him again."

"Why dodge him at all?" Shirou asked, not seeing the problem. "What possible issue is there in running into him right now?"

"He might ruin my date." Kenichi replied like it was obvious before he groaned again. "If you can even call this a date anymore."

"Yeah, but could he possibly do besides talk to you?" Shirou reasoned. "If that's the case, you can just let him say what he wants to tell you and then go, it's just that simple/"

"You don't get it." Kenichi stubbornly argued. "Just being near that freak of nature will make something bad happen, I just know it."

Shirou stopped trying when he realized Kenichi's discomfort was based solely on paranoia. It wasn't long until they arrived in front of the movie theater where to Kenichi's surprise and relief, Niijima was nowhere to be seen.

_"Would you look at that, I guess he must have given up on me."_ Kenichi inwardly guessed, relieved.

However, just then they all heard an angry voice coming from a nearby alleyway.

"Where is Shirahama? Don't make me ask you again or I swear you'll regret it!"

The four of them went to look and surprisingly enough, they saw Niijima on the ground while three Delinquents were standing around him, one of them was standing on his head while threatening him.

"I already told you guys that I don't know where he is." Niijima breathed out while his head was forced into the ground.

"You stubborn little weasel." One of them snared as he kicked him.

"You better start singing like a bird." Another one warned him.

"Please don't hurt me, I swear to you I don't know where he is." Niijima pleaded with them. "I don't even know the guy."

"Don't lie to me!" One of them warned him. "We've all seen you hang out with him and Tsukiharu, if anyone has seen him it'd be you."

"Niijima?" Miu noticed surprised.

Shirou clenched his fists. "Those Basterds."

"Guess Ragnarok never takes a day off." Haruto noted, looking over at Shirou. "What's the plan?"

Shirou shook his head. "Don't need one for this, we'll finish it quickly. And there's one for each of us." He looked back at them. "Miu, Kenichi, pick either of them and go."

Miu nodded but Kenichi just turned away. "What are you talking about? We're gonna miss the movie."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Haruto questioned him.

"Yeah, aren't you going to help him?" Miu added, surprised at him.

"Why should I?" Kenichi asked, not seeing any reason to. "He brought this on himself."

As if something inside of him snapped, Shirou immediately closed the distance between himself and Kenichi, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and glared at him.

"Stop screwing around Kenichi, are you honestly saying you're just going to pretend you didn't see that?!" Shirou angrily questioned him.

"What does it matter, it's just Niijima?" Kenichi tried to defend his actions. "Besides, it doesn't have anything to do with me."

"Is that your new excuse?" Shirou coldly asked him.

Kenichi became confused. "What?"

"Every time trouble happens you always have an excuse ready to justify why you do nothing. Before I could forgive you because you were a weakling, but now you have the ability and the chance to do something, and yet you're still making excuses to not to." Shirou accused him. Which shocked and silenced Kenichi. If you still plan on doing nothing even now, then what the Hell did you bother learning Martial Arts for?" He questioned him before he let go.

After letting go of Kenichi, Shirou walked towards the alleyway to stop what was happening. While Kenichi watched him go, he glanced towards Miu and noticed the disapproving gaze she was also giving him. He then thought back.

_(Well, I definitely will not become like that!" Kenichi said, with new determination. "If I become strong, I will use it to protect the weak! I will become a Hero, then I will take care of those punks!)_

_(Now that I think back on it, I also did nothing back then."_ _He remembered, upset._ _"I was too weak to do anything back then, but now I'm a lot stronger and I'll definitely be able to do something if something like that ever happens again.)_

Remembering the claims he made and the fact that his current actions are a complete contradiction to them, Kenichi became frustrated with himself and clenched his teeth as he muttered. "What am I doing?"

As Shirou arrived in front of the alleyway he spoke. "Hold—"

"HOLD IT!" Kenichi interrupted him by running in front of him and shouting louder. "Let him go!"

Niijima and the Delinquents looked up to see Kenichi and Shirou standing in front of them. When Niijima saw them he gasped with relief.

"You came to save me!" Niijima became more confident. "I told you guys they were my friends! Now teach them a lesson they'll never forget!"

"That's the exact opposite of what you said!" Shirou annoyingly pointed out, before looking to Kenichi. "Speaking of opposite, what are you doing?"

Kenichi didn't face him but simply said. "I just remembered why I became a Martial Artist."

Shirou didn't change his expression and looked back at the thugs. "About time."

"So you two are the punks that picked a fight with Kisara huh?" One of the thugs questioned.

"I'm not just some punk, third-string." Shirou shot back.

Kenichi looked a little nervous. _"This guy looks tough."_

The same thug stepped forward. "I'm gonna enjoy making you two bleed!"

"Kenichi, this one's yours." Shirou told him.

"What?" Kenichi said surprised.

"Just do what you were taught." Shirou advised him.

"He's right, calm down." Kenichi thought as he raised his fists. "There's no getting out of this, I've just gotta trust my training."

_('Cause with stuff hits the fan, your training is the one thing you can count on.)_

_(If you wanna break a jaw then aim for the chin.)_

The thug charged at him. "Here I came!"

Kenichi stood his ground, clenched his fist and punched his opponent in the chin as hard as he could. The punch was so strong, it rocked him, made his pause for a moment and finally, he hit the ground with a thud, unconscious.

When Kenichi saw what his punch just did, he himself was surprised.

"I-I did it?" He asked no one.

"It's like I told you before." Shirou told him, not surprised by what just happened. "You're more than strong enough to beat losers like that."

Kenichi looked back at his fist, then felt a sense of pride in himself.

"Okay, now it's my tur to.….?" Shirou paused.

The reason being that when he looked back at the remaining two Delinquents, they were both on the ground, defeated and Miu stood over them showing that she was responsible, she then smiled at Kenichi.

"I'm so proud of you." She praised him.

"Thanks, I was pretty amazing huh?" Kenichi replied, flattered.

"Miu!" Shirou angrily yelled at her.

"What?" Miu asked, surprised by his yell.

"You were supposed to save one for me!" Shirou reminded her, in a reprimanding way.

As if she just realized she did something wrong, her expression became apologetic. "I'm my gosh, I'm really sorry. I just got carried away."

_"The second stick."_ Haruto thought as he looked at Kenichi. _"He probably still doesn't notice but his mentality matured again, now he's become the Kenichi that fights to protect others regardless of who they are."_ He summarized before looking at Miu and Shirou. _"And more than that, I think the trigger that motivates his growth is them, it's like he's able to overcome his fears when he wants to be like Brother or Miu or when he wants to avoid being seen in a negative light by them. It's almost like how a kid would think but it works for Kenichi."_

"Hey, what are you staring at?" Shirou asked his Brother.

Haruto just smiled. "I'll tell you later."

"Hahahaha! Niijima got up and laughed at the fallen Delinquents. "You idiots! I told you guys they were my best friends but you wouldn't listen to me!" He gloated as he pointed at Shirou. "This guy is a master of all kinds of Martial Arts!" Then he pointed at Kenichi. "And this guy trains with him every day! Karate, Kick-Boxing, weird Chinese stuff you've never even heard of! That's right and they're busting their butts day in and day and day out so you'd better watch your backs 'cause if they get any stronger they'll take you all down!"

"…Niijima, you know they're unconscious right?" Shirou pointed out.

_"How does he knew what kind of training I do?"_ Kenichi wondered. "Is he stalking me or something?"

"Hahaha! These guys aren't scared of Ragnarok!" Niijima continued, not caring if they could hear him or not. "Bring it on! Whatever you want!"

Miu then stepped forward. "Isn't it suspicious that these thugs somehow knew you'd be here today?" She noticed.

"Not just that, it was Kenichi specifically." Haruto added, also finding it strange. "Normally they target the both of you, but they came here as if they only expected the find, Kenichi."

"Well, now that you mention it…" Kenichi saw their point.

Shirou sighed. "The only answer if someone told them about this date. And I'm pretty sure I know who, but first I think you should see something." He then turned to Niijima. "Do you still have the schedule?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." Niijima took out a piece of paper and showed it to Kenichi and Miu. "Here, see for yourself."

"What?" Kenichi gasped as he and Miu stood shocked and what they were seeing.

* * *

After seeing the schedule, Kenichi and Miu rushed back to the dojo, Shirou decided to go with them while Niijima and Haruto did not. Once they arrived at the dojo, Kenichi confronted Sakaki, Kensei, and Akisame and slammed the schedule on the floor in front of them.

"Kenichi Shirahama Activity Schedule!" Kenichi yelled at them. "It's not bad enough that every bully in school is after me, you guys had to tell them where I am!"

Shirou was leaning against the wall and spoke. "Seriously? This was your big plan?"

"Yes well, it was all Akisame's idea." Kensei told them.

Akisame took a sip of tea before he answered. "It was what I like to call the carrot and stick approach."

"Come again?" Kenichi didn't understand.

"He means the date was a setup." Shirou explained it to him. "Niijima being there was an accident, their original idea was for you guys to go to the movies while they tell the thugs where you are, then they target Miu while would give you the incentive to fight them."

After hearing all that, Kenichi gasped. "Are you people insane? You used Miu as bait so those thugs would attack me and I'd have to fight them?"

"Well, you already ran away from those punks once. We had to find a way to snap you out of your little funk." Sakaki reasoned.

"Perhaps cruel but think of it as tough love." Kensei told him.

"Well, I don't need love like that okay!" Kenichi snapped at him.

"Hey, whether you like it or not, those bullies are coming for you." Sasaki reminded him. "It doesn't matter what you do, you'll have to fight them sooner or later."

"That's right, remember the enemy will never stop attacking you." Akisame added.

"I get that, but you don't have to help them do it." Kenichi whined with comical tears.

Miu sat down next to him and smiled. "Remember, a man doesn't choose his path in life, only whether to walk it."

"Huh, are you forgetting they used you as a carrot?" Kenichi reminded her.

Miu raised her hand. "That's okay, I can forgive them… For now."

Kenichi turned to Shirou. "What about you? If you knew they were placing those sheets around, why didn't you tell me?"

Shirou pointed to the Masters. "I wanted to hear what they had to say first, after that I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt when they said they had a plan."

"And, what did you think?" Akisame asked.

"I think you all need to get your heads examined." Shirou bluntly told them.

"Well now, that wasn't very nice." Akisame noted.

"When you said you had a plan I was actually interested to see what you would come up with, but no matter how you look at it, this was just plain stupid." Shirou continued, not holding back. "It's like a teacher telling a student they have a day off only to give them a stack of homework to do on that day, no doubt it'll stress them out even more."

"Well, being a teacher is harder than you think you know?" Kensei defended.

"What's all this commotion about?" Hayato asked as he came in the dojo.

"Oh, hi Hayato." Akisame greeted him.

"Kenichi, since Grandpa has lots of life experience, he should be able to find a solution." Miu suggested an idea.

"Ah, right." Kenichi nodded.

Shirou shrugged. "Well we're licked anyway, so what's there to lose."

As Kenichi explained the situation to The Elder, he patiently sat there and heard the whole story, while he was talking, Shigure and Apachai soon entered the dojo as well and once Kenichi as done, everyone awaited to hear Hayato's response.

He stroked his beard and spoke. "I see, this is quite a mess. How about I give you a good plan."

"A plan you say?" Kenichi asked with interest.

Hayato grinned and told him. "It's called the "Fight and fight until I'm the last one standing" Plan!"

"Gyyyyaaaaa!" Kenichi shrieked in dismay.

"Although, there's also the "Run and run forever until you finally get caught" Plan!" Hayato offered him.

"Quit joking around ya geezer!" Shirou snapped at him. "That's a stupid idea."

"Yeah, exactly." Kenichi agreed with him.

"If there are only two choices, of course, anyone would go with the "Fight" plan." Shirou reasoned.

Hayato chuckled a bit. "Haha! Yes, I suppose you have a point."

"That's not the issue here!" Kenichi snapped at them.

"Hehehe! Once you start a fight you can't stop it halfway!" Sakaki added with a laugh.

"Got it?" Kensei chimed in.

"But if the opponent it more knowledgeable, we have no choice but to train in a quick and timely manner or face defeat." Akisame pointed out.

"The enemy will… Probably use weapons." Shigure added her own thoughts.

Sakaki smirked and made a fist. "That takes me back! The first time I fought, around 50 people surrounded my house."

"Mine was 80 people." Kensei informed him.

"But the next time, it was twice the amount!" Sakaki added like it was a competition.

"I had twice the amount plus guns." Kensei shot back.

"Hmph, that's nothing." Shirou brushed off, unimpressed. "Just wait, one of these days I'll take on more guys than either of you."

"Hmm, is that so?" Kensei asked with interest. "Well, if you do end up pulling that off I'll treat you to some sake."

"Get real, by that time I'll still be too young to drink." Shirou replied with confidence.

"Ha! In that case, since you're so confident, how about we wager some money on it?" Sakaki offered, starting to enjoy this.

"Now that I can do, you're on." Shirou agreed to his wager.

_"Why are they so into this?"_ Kenichi wondered as he saw them go back and forth.

"Kenichi." Hayato spoke which got everyone's attention. "Now this may surprise you but when I was a boy, the older boys at the dojo picked on me."

"You got picked on?" Kenichi asked, not believing it. "I never would have thought that."

"Of course, I made sure to pay them back 100 fold for what they did." Hayato continued.

Shirou nodded. "What goes around comes around."

"Yes, in fact I have a story I'd like for you all to hear." Hayato told them before he began. "Once there was a young Martial Artist, in his burning youth he recklessly took on 500 opponents all at once. That's right, once you start a fight, even if you never want to fight again, others will challenge you. Day after day, he had no choice but to spend his life going around destroying other dojos. When he finally came to his sense, that person…" He then grinned and pointed to himself. "Was an old man."

After hearing that, Kenichi fainted, Kensei and Sakaki laughed, Apachai looked confused, Shigure stayed silent, and Akisame scratched his chin.

"That was pretty deep." Akisame admitted.

"Ahahaha! That story was hilarious!" Kensei said while laughing,

"Fine, should I tell another one?" Hayato offered.

"That story doesn't help me at all!" Kenichi shouted at him. "Are you telling me to fight forever!?"

"Then again, in these stories, most people die in the middle of it." Hayato jokingly remembered.

"Grandpa quit it!" Miu scolded him.

Shirou just stood there silently and thought. _"I wonder if I could fight 600 opponents at once?"_

* * *

**And that's the chapter. A bit of stuff went on this time, for one thing, the moments between Shirou and Haruto. As Haruto explained, it's going to take more than one moment of passion and emotion to make Kenichi a brave person right away, that would just be unrealistic. The story will follow two important journeys; Shirou sharpening his fangs until he reaches his full potential and Kenichi slowly creating his nest, stick by stick until he can become the person he also wished he could be.**

**Next, Shirou explaining what kind of training his Dad gave him. I always planned for it to be that, traveling to different parts of the world to learn different fighting styles, I figured if you want to learn a little of everything, what better way than to go the best places to train and learn them. **

**Finally the fight at the end, instead of how it went in the canon where Kenichi was going to just walk away but changed his mind because Miu just "Stared" at him. I decided to have some get called out on what he was doing and let him know he doesn't have an excuse to runaway anymore and whether or not he was serious about being a "Hero". Plus it was a chance for himself to finally realize for himself that he has become stronger.**

**Anyways thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, if you want more then be sure to leave a review, if you liked the story click the follow/favorite, and as always have an awesome day.**


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